Washington, Oregon To Receive Grant Money To Support Seafood Processors
Earlier this week, the USDA announced $50 million in grants to help the seafood industry. The funds, via the Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant Program will be used to help processors, processing facilities and processing vessels.
Oregon and Washington as well as Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, as well as the territory of American Samoa will all receive funding. Dollars will be distributed via state agencies and, will help defray costs incurred by preparing for, preventing exposure to, and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will be available to agriculture, fisheries, wildlife, seafood, commercial processing, or related commerce activities.
According to the USDA, the Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant Program is funded by the Pandemic Assistance provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
“USDA is working with agricultural and food businesses to ensure that, following the pandemic disruptions, they have the resources and tools to continue building more and better markets, and to thrive in 2022 and beyond,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Moffitt. “This funding for seafood processors and processing vessels will serve as a bridge, providing relief to an industry that was greatly affected by the pandemic as well as the resulting changes in consumer demand. This program is part of our larger pandemic assistance program, providing support to producers, distributors, processors and other small agricultural businesses to get our food system back on track.”
Once USDA has made awards, state agencies will provide funds to seafood processing facilities and processing vessels. Seafood processors and processing vessels should apply directly through their state agency. A listing of state contacts will be made available on the USDA website.
Additionally, the USDA has encouraged state to prioritize applications that benefit smaller processors and vessels, socially disadvantaged processors, veteran processors, and/or underserved communities. For grants intending to serve these entities, applicants should engage and involve those beneficiaries when developing projects and applications.
A complete list of the SPRS grant recipients is available on the Agricultural Marketing Service Website.
If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com