The U.S. Department of Agriculture Seafood Trade Relief Program has set aside $530 million for commercial fishermen hurt by the U.S.-China trade war. Applicants can receive up to $250,000. This is a great opportunity for eligible fishermen and is especially timely given the additional fallout from COVID-19.
Q: Who is eligible to participate in the Seafood Trade Relief Program (STRP)?A: U.S. commercial fishermen who have a valid federal or state license or permit to catchseafood who bring their catch to shore and sell or transfer them to another party. That otherparty must be a legally permitted or licensed seafood dealer. Alternatively, the catch can beprocessed at sea and sold by the same legally permitted entity that harvested or processed the product.
Q: What seafood is eligible?A: Eligible seafood species must have been subject to retaliatory tariffs and suffered more than$5 million in retaliatory trade damages.Eligible species are Atka mackerel, Dungeness crab, King crab, Snow crab, SouthernTanner crab, Flounder, Geoduck, Goosefish, Herring, Lobster, Pacific Cod, Pacific Ocean Perch, Pollock, Sablefish, Salmon, Sole, Squid, Tuna and Turbot.
Here is the USDA page where the application and instructions can be found. Applications opened on September 14 and will be open through December 14.