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A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and representatives have signed onto a letter calling for more aid for seafood processors and processing vessels.
The letter, signed by over a dozen members of Congress, calls for U.S. Department of Agriculture Acting Secretary Kevin Shea to implement a program offering grants and forgivable loans to support seafood processing facilities and processing vessels. The loans would help processors and vessel operators implement COVID-19 response measures.
“Seafood processors around the nation are conducting regular testing to ensure their workforce in coastal communities remains COVID-free, providing quarantine housing for employees to complete the recommended 14-day isolation period, chartering secure transportation for employees traveling to remote processing facilities, and marshalling a range of other resources to ensure and enforce safe working conditions,” the letter states. “These protocols are expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars through next year, much of which cannot be covered by other Federal assistance programs.”