Press Releases
Pingree Joins Call from Bipartisan Members of Congress for Biden Admin to Provide Seafood Processors COVID-19 Relief
Washington,
February 2, 2021
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), joined a bicameral, bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and members of the U.S House of Representatives calling upon the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kevin Shea, to quickly implement a program to provide grants and forgivable loan support to seafood processing facilities and processing vessels. This program would fund COVID-19 response and workplace safety measures, in fulfillment of language in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, passed by Congress in December. You can read the full letter here. “Given the complexity of U.S. seafood supply chains, the success of seafood processors to meet and overcome the challenges created by COVID is directly linked to the success of fishermen who risk their safety to harvest the seafood that Americans enjoy. If processors cannot operate due to COVID shutdowns, independent fishermen have no market for their product and no revenue to support their small businesses. Federal support to help seafood processors weather the pandemic is urgently needed—without it, our nation’s entire seafood industry may falter,” the letter reads. Congresswoman Pingree has worked since April 2020 to provide COVID-19 relief to Maine’s seafood industry and fisheries. ### |
