|
Source: NCDENR, 4/30/21 More
than $5.2 million in financial assistance is on its way to eligible members of
the fishing industries who sustained income losses in the spring of 2020 due to
COVID-19. The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries issued funds this week to
197 commercial fishermen and marine aquaculture operations, for-hire fishing
operations, and seafood dealers and processors deemed eligible for assistance
from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
Fisheries Relief Program. Payments were made in the following categories:
Stakeholder Category
|
Number of
Applications
|
Number
Approved
|
Assistance
Awarded
|
Percent of
Total Award
|
Commercial Fishermen and
Marine Aquaculture Operations
|
217
|
137
|
$3,374,022
|
64.2%
|
Seafood
Dealers and Processors
|
35
|
26
|
$1,447,221
|
27.5%
|
For-Hire
Fishing Operations
|
39
|
34
|
$434,243
|
8.3%
|
Total
|
291
|
197
|
$5,255,486
|
100%
|
An additional $161,287 went toward Division of Marine Fisheries
administrative costs. In May 2020, North Carolina was allocated about $5.4 million from
the federal CARES Act to provide financial relief through direct payments to
fishery-related stakeholder groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The
federal law required applicants to document total loss of revenue greater than
35% as compared to the average total revenue from the same period of the
previous five-years to be eligible for relief. Additionally, applicants
were required to affirm
that this assistance, in combination with any other CARES Act assistance
received, would not result in overcompensation for their financial losses in
calendar year 2020.
The division developed a spending plan with public input for the
program that was approved by NOAA Fisheries in September 2020. Applications
were accepted from Oct. 27 to Nov. 30, 2020. No relief funds could be
distributed until all applications and appeals were finalized because the funds
are allocated based on the proportion (percentage) of eligible claimed fishing
loss revenue in relation to all eligible stakeholders who qualify in the
stakeholder category. The proportions allocated for each eligible stakeholder category
differ from those initially approved in the spending plan. After reviewing and
approving eligible applications, the greatest amount that could be awarded to
eligible applicants under the For-Hire Operations category was $434,243. This
amount compensated for 100% of approved losses in the For-Hire Operations
category and left $827,074 unexpended. The Division of Marine Fisheries
requested and received permission to amend the spending plan to move the
$827,074 from the For-Hire Operations stakeholder category to the Seafood
Dealers and Processors category, which raised the compensation in the category
from 17% of approved losses to 40% of approved losses.
The allocation proportion did not change in the Commercial Fisherman and Marine
Aquaculture Operations category. Stakeholders in that category were compensated
for 79% of approved losses. More assistance to the fishing industry will be available. NOAA Fisheries has announced that North Carolina’s share of the national $225 million in fisheries assistance in the Consolidated Appropriations Act will be about $4.6 million. However, the amount available to North Carolina was revised to around $4.5 million due to NOAA and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission administration fees. An additional amount, still to be determined, will go toward Division of Marine Fisheries administrative costs. The Division of Marine Fisheries will announce a public comment period for a draft spending plan, and then an application period for this funding at a later date. Applicants for this funding must meet the same eligibility criteria as the CARES Act fisheries assistance funding. For questions about this assistance, email covid19relief@ncdenr.gov.
|