June 14, 2012 – Sen. John Kerry on Thursday proposed an amendment to the 2012 Farm Bill that would make commercial fishermen in Massachusetts and elsewhere eligible for emergency disaster loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Fishing in Massachusetts means tens of thousands of jobs and our fishermen are literally the farmers of the ocean,” Kerry said in a news release. “Fishermen across the nation risk their lives every day to put food on America’s kitchen table.”
Commercial fishermen should be treated in the same way as other farmers, he said.
The Kerry proposal is just one of a number of amendments attached to the Farm Bill, now being debated on the Senate floor. Amendments to the bill, officially known as the Agriculture Reform Food and Jobs Act of 2012, will be voted on before its final passage.
If approved, Kerry’s amendment would expand the existing Emergency Disaster Loan program to include commercial fishermen.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times.