The Louisiana
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is reminding qualified
commercial resident fishermen, certain commercial fishing
vessel license holders, wholesale/retail seafood dealers and
charter boat fishing guides that the deadline for submitting
the required forms for participation in the federal fisheries
economic assistance program is Oct. 31, 2008.
LDWF is
providing $28.2 million in assistance to the state’s
commercial fishing and charter boat industries through a $41.3
million federal fisheries economic assistance grant from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through the
Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission. Louisiana resident
commercial fishermen, certain commercial fishing vessel license
holders and wholesale/retail seafood dealers with trip ticket
recorded sales or purchases of seafood during the 12-month
period (Sept. 1, 2004 – Aug. 31, 2005) prior to Hurricane
Katrina as well as Louisiana resident charter boat operators
who held a LDWF charter boat fishing guide license in the
qualifying period (Sept. 1, 2004 – Aug. 31, 2005) qualify
for some level of personal assistance. LDWF requires trip
tickets to collect commercial landings and associated information
by trip.
LDWF is
administering the distribution of personal assistance payments
to qualified resident charter boat fishing guides, commercial
resident shrimp, oyster, crab, and saltwater finfish fishermen
and certain commercial fishing vessel license holders in the
shrimp, oyster, saltwater fish and menhaden fisheries and
wholesale/retail seafood dealers and freshwater finfish and
wild crawfish fishermen who resided in the 27 LDWF defined
hurricane impacted parishes using trip ticket report records.
Trip tickets dated during the eligible period but submitted
after Sept. 1, 2007 will not be considered.
Approximately
8,837 information packets were mailed during May and June
to qualified participants that LDWF identified from pre-storm
trip ticket and license records. LDWF urges anyone who has
received a packet and not submitted the required forms to
do so immediately.
The South
Central Planning and Development Commission (SCPDC) and affiliated
planning districts are receiving and processing all information
about this assistance program and anyone who is qualified
to receive assistance and has not received a packet should
contact the SCPDC as soon as possible by calling 1-800-630-3791
(toll-free) or 985 655-1051 (local) or mailing SCPDC at P.O.
Box 1240, Gray, LA 70359-9902 or visiting the SCPDC Web site
at www.scpdc.org/fisheriesassistance. Any questions concerning
eligibility, requests for information, etc. should also be
directed to the SCPDC.
To date,
forms from approximately 5,400 qualified participants have
been received and payments totaling $7,334,291 have been made
to 1,677 eligible participants. The process of reviewing and
verifying remaining forms and issuing payments is moving as
rapidly as possible; however, LDWF is concerned over the large
number of non-responses.
Many eligible
participants have moved or been displaced by the hurricanes
of 2005 and have not renewed their fishing licenses, leaving
LDWF with out-dated address information. LDWF is examining
all available databases in order to contact non-respondents
and suggests that anyone in touch with these qualifying participants
urge them to contact the SCPDC as soon as possible.
