RFA Encourages Business Owners to Gather Financial Information
On November 16th, the Department of Commerce officially determined that under section 308(d) of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (IFA) and section 315 of the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Conservation Act (Magnuson Stevens Act), a catastrophic regional fishery disaster has occurred due to a natural disaster for New York and New Jersey.

In addition to authorizing small business association loans (SBA), the determination provides a basis for Congress to appropriate disaster relief funding to provide grant assistance to affected communities. This determination, by law, includes the for-hire sector, related fishery infrastructure and other related shoreside support facilities as of the 2006/2007 reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Act.

On November 29th, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-NJ) a senior member of the House Natural Resources Committee and the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs confirmed that recreational fishing infrastructure such as marinas, tackle and bait stores and public access points that provide fishing access are eligible for disaster assistance under the fishery disaster declaration.

"I understand that there has been concern that certain aspects of the recreational fishing sector were not included in the fishery disaster declaration," Pallone said in his release, adding "my office has been working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to confirm that shore-side fishery infrastructure including marinas, tackle and bait stores and boat ramps are eligible for assistance with this declaration."

On December 11th, a bipartisan letter was sent by 14 Senators to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over NOAA, requesting that federal fisheries disaster funding be included in an emergency supplemental. In addition to Superstorm Sandy, Senators from Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey and Alaska have asked Congress to appropriate funding for disaster declarations to the New England groundfishery, Alaska Chinook salmon, and the oyster and blue crab fisheries in Mississippi.

(Read Senate letter at http://www.joinrfa.org/Press/Senateletterdisaster_121112.pdf)

Jim Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) believes that a group effort in Congress for various disaster declarations may be the best approach. "After speaking with members of Congress, RFA is confident that this may be the best way to ensure that adequate funding is made available to our recreational fishing community," Donofrio said, adding that RFA has been working with various stakeholders on the ground along with state and federal officials to ensure that the recreational fishing industry is covered under any disaster declaration.

Under the Magnuson Stevens Act, "shoreside fishery support facilities and infrastructure" do qualify under the federal disaster declaration requirements, though Rep. Pallone called that just the beginning. "We now need to work to make sure funds are appropriate and directed to those impacted by the storm. That's why it is important that the state and federal governments identify those fishermen, fishing related business and the shore-side infrastructure in need of assistance and direct funds where necessary."

Loss of beach access, closures, boat loss, localized damage and widespread prohibitions on recreational fishing in many local waters has caused great economic damage to our recreational fishing industry, and without the customers there's no way to pay debts like mortgages or qualifying SBA loans. "If you have the official records to support demonstrable business loss when comparing November and December revenues in 2012 to those numbers from the same period from 2009 to 2011, your state officials want to hear from you," Donofrio said.

"We know that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has been sending surveys to the for-hire sector in addition to our bait and tackle shops in New Jersey, we are encouraging business owners to react quickly and comprehensively to this request," Donofrio said. Similar efforts are underway in New York with the New York Fishing Tackle Trades Association (NYFTTA), although the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) has not yet issued individual business surveys as done in New Jersey.

A precedent for this type of federal relief was set previously after Hurricane Katrina when the Magnuson Stevens Act was reauthorized to specifically establish an assistance program for the Gulf of Mexico commercial and recreational fishing industry, with $17.5 million appropriated by Congress to the Secretary of Commerce for each of the fiscal years from 2007-2012 to carry out a federal assistance program to respond to Katrina.

RFA, in conjunction with key industry representatives in New Jersey and New York, is working to ensure that affected states have the information required and that Congress understands the full scope of the disaster declaration.

"Our captains, tackle shop owners and marina operators qualify for loss of business following the storm, but they must go through the states and each of our governors in order to make that qualification stick," said Donofrio. "We know that NOAA Fisheries is compiling their own federal assessment of damage, but the one that really matters is the one compiled by our state agencies in direct coordination with business owners."

While efforts in the U.S. Congress to appropriate funding are currently underway, RFA is encouraging all recreational fishing industry professionals within the affected disaster areas to begin compiling damage information. For tackle shops, marinas and members of the for-hire sector in New Jersey, you can visit the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife's fisheries disaster information page at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/news/2012/sandy_disaster_info.htm.

To fill out the Bait and Tackle Shop & Marina questionnaire, go to http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2012/sandysurvey_bt.pdf; for the Party/Charter boat questionnaire, go to http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2012/sandysurvey_boat.pdf.

"One of the most important steps right now is for local fishing businesses is to get their financial together in a concise and timely fashion so that state representatives can process the data in an organized fashion," said RFA managing director Jim Hutchinson. "It's very important that you fill out this form and get it back to the state in a timely manner so that these specifics are included when following up with Congress and the Department of Commerce for appropriate relief."

Hutchinson said NYDEC does not seem to be as caught up with the data collection as the NJDEP is, but he said business leaders in New York are actively getting information together. "NYFTTA is working closely with RFA and the New York Sportfishing Federation, along with area tackle distributors and business leaders to get financial data compiled for the state," he said.

"The most important thing to remember is that our businesses qualify for disaster assistance from the federal government stemming from physical damage and lost revenue resulting from the disaster declaration, but we need to get our data together now," Hutchinson said.