Eligibility
To qualify, you must meet the minimum requirements below:
- Must have held a 2023 Massachusetts Commercial Fishing Permit and renewed that permit for 2024.
- Must have incurred safety-related expenses that were paid for on or after July 1, 2023, through April 15, 2024, and must have documentation of the expenses.
Application
A notice about this grant program was mailed in December 2023 to Massachusetts commercial permit holders with their 2024 commercial fishing permit renewal forms.
A list of eligible safety equipment can be found here, however, additional items may also have been eligible for reimbursement. A separate application could have been completed for each eligible Massachusetts Commercial Fishing Permit, however, expenses listed on each application must have been specific to that permit's commercial fishing operation and not duplicated on multiple applications.
Applications emailed or postmarked after April 15, 2024, will not be reviewed for payment consideration.
After all applications have been received, MA DMF will review applications and randomly contact 5% of applicants for expense documentation (receipts or invoices for items listed in Section 2). Receipts or invoices were not required with applications unless requested.
Payments
The information filled out in Section 1 of the application will be used to issue and mail checks. MA DMF will mail payments by June 30, 2024, and checks must be cashed by the expiration date on the check. MA DMF cannot reissue checks after the expiration date on the check as funds will no longer be available.
To determine a maximum payment amount, MA DMF will divide the program funds of $375,000 among the qualified applicants and their approved expenses. Qualified applicants will be reimbursed for their approved expenses, up to the maximum payment amount per approved application.