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Deadline Looms for Hyannis, Mass.-Area Shellfishing Firms to Seek Aid

Posted on: Friday, 3 March 2006, 15:00 CST

By Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.

Mar. 2--The most extensive red tide bloom in New England history is nothing but a memory now, lingering only in the deepest offshore shellfish beds and in the impact it had within the Cape's shellfishing community.

From the end of last April until almost the end of August, most of the Cape was closed to shellfishing due to red tide.

Now, the deadline is looming for businesses that were affected by the closures to seek financial help from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Qualified businesses in Barnstable, Nantucket, Plymouth, Dukes counties have until March 14 to apply, according to the SBA.

The loans of up to $1.5 million can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll and other bills that could not be paid because of the red tide outbreak. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits, according to the SBA.

However, many local shellfishermen don't qualify for the loans, which are designed to help businesses and not people who need help paying a mortgage and other bills.

When their areas closed last summer, many Cape shellfishermen wondered how they would be able to recoup what they'd lost and survive the winter.

Many local shellfishermen escaped financial disaster by working harder once areas were reopened last summer. A relatively warm winter has also allowed them to continue harvesting shellfish and make up for lost economic opportunities.

There have been only two days this winter where shellfishing in Wellfleet was closed due to low temperatures that might freeze shellfish before they could be taken to market."Everyone seems like they're back on track," said Wellfleet Shellfish Constable Andy Koch, adding that he does not know the personal finances of the roughly 100 aquaculturists in the state's No. 1 town for shellfish farming.

Federal aid for those affected by the red tide outbreak came from the SBA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But few local shellfishermen sought the help, not wanting to add to their debt with little or no income.

The SBA has received 36 applications related to red tide and has approved six thus far for amounts ranging from $2,500 to $29,700. Six businesses from the Cape applied, but none have been approved yet.

Paul Russell, USDA director for the state, said no one took the low-interest loan that was initially offered, because shellfishermen had to show a financial loss. But the shellfish weren't killed by red tide; their harvesting was only delayed.

Russell said a handful of the state's 283 aquaculturists did participate in a different low-interest loan program, which didn't require a loss and allowed them to use the value of their seed shellfish as collateral.

Chatham shellfisherman Jim Blanchfield helped organize the Chatham Shellfish Association last summer to give fishermen a united voice. Chatham sells more than 600 commercial shellfish permits annually, but only 70 to 100 shellfishermen make it a full-time occupation.

Even with a warmer winter, Blanchfield said, Chatham diggers have been hard pressed to make up the money they lost in summer.

Some shellfishermen estimate that they earn 75 percent of their annual income during the summer.

Robin Carroll, director of human needs for the Lower Cape Outreach Council, said her agency has seen an increase in the past few weeks of shellfishermen and their families asking for help in meeting everything from rent and mortgage payments to fuel bills and shellfish licenses.

"These are not people we ever normally would see," Carroll said. "All of them have said that this (time of year) is when they are really feeling it, because they don't have saved up what they usually would have from the summer."

Carroll said her agency has distributed about $11,000 of the $20,000 raised through donations to the Cape Cod Shellfishermen's Relief Fund to 14 families. They also gave out $10,000 to families to pay bills while the shellfish beds were closed in June and July.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.

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Source: Cape Cod Times

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