Seafood Processor CARES Act Fisheries Relief

Seafood Processors and Wholesale Dealers can check this page for application status and other updates related to CARES Act Fisheries Relief.

Round Two funding for Seafood Processor and Wholesale Dealer businesses

Round Two applicant list and application status: Round Two Seafood Processor CARES Act Fisheries Relief Application Status

Program Overview: 
The Round Two CARES Act Fisheries Relief Program is now closed. ASMFC mailed payments to eligible recipients on October 7, 2021.

Basic Program Eligibility:
1. Wholesale dealers and processors must have held a MA 2020 Wholesale Dealer permit and have been issued a MA 2019 Wholesale Dealer permit prior to June 30, 2019.
2. Businesses must have suffered greater than 35% gross revenue loss under this permit during March 10-June 30, 2020, OR March 10-May 31, 2020, caused by COVID-19 relative to the previous 5-year average during the same timeframe.
   a. If you qualified in Round One for a payment, you did not need to recalculate a greater than 35% loss for Round Two, however you did need to fill out a Round Two application to show eligibility.
3. For active years between 2015 and 2019, your business must have average annual wholesale seafood sales of at least $100,000.
4. Businesses must receive at least 70% of total wholesale business revenue from wholesale seafood sales.
5. Only seafood Wholesale and Processing activities will count toward eligibility criteria.
6. Businesses must have facilities located in Massachusetts but do not have to be headquartered in Massachusetts.  Wholesale dealers and processors are eligible to apply in the state(s) where their facilities are physically located.  
7. Must be 18 years of age or older at the time of application.
8. Must be in good standing with the State and Federal Government.
9. Assistance from this and other COVID-related relief must not make the applicant “more than whole” regarding their 2020 revenue. Your 2020 wholesale seafood sales revenue combined with applicable federal COVID-related relief cannot exceed your typical annual wholesale seafood sales revenue based on the prior five years’ average.

Tiering & Payment Share:
• Payments were scaled to eligible recipients based on the number of employees. Businesses with multiple permitted wholesale seafood dealer locations operating under one Employer Identification Number (EIN) had payments scaled based on aggregate employee counts from all facilities.  
• Applicants were able to appeal their assigned bins by providing documentation on employee counts.
• If you were found eligible in Round One, you were pre-qualified for Round Two under the same tier. Round Two recipients received their assigned share unless that amount made them “more than whole”. In this case, you received your “maximum payment value”, as identified during the application process.  
• The total number of shares was calculated after applications from all four sectors (Seafood Processing, For-hire, Aquaculture, and Commercial) were qualified and appeals resolved. The Seafood Processor and Wholesale Dealer shares are shown below. 

Tier	Share	Employee count	Amount
1	1	>0 - 5	$44,467.07
2	2	>5 - 10	$88,934.14
3	3	>10 - 20	$133,401.21
4	4	>20 - 40	$177,868.28
5	5	>40 - 80	$222,335.35
6	6	>80 - 120	$266,802.42
7	7	>120 - 160	$311,269.49
8	8	>160	$355,736.56

Additional Resources

Round One Program Summary for Seafood Processor CARES Act Fisheries Relief

Seafood Processor Round 2 Working Group Meeting Presentation

Seafood Processor Round 2 Working Group Meeting Summary

Questions

If you have any questions about this seafood processor relief program, please email us at [e-mail].