(Updated 11/9/2020)
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has released a second draft spend plan for public comment between 11/9/2020 & 11/15/2020. The second draft (you can read it here) made the following revisions:
- Changes to sector allocations
- New allocation takes into account what state vessel owner resides.
- Changes to residency requirements
- A tier/share system for the subsistence sector
- 1 or 2 shares based on household size
- Active duty military special considerations
- Those deployed between 2015 & 2020 may receive special consideration for assisstance
- Extension of the timeframe to calculate losses
- However, no timeframe is mentioned in this spend plan
- Several clarifying changes have been made throughout
| Aquaculture | $490,000 |
| Subsistence | $2,450,000 |
| Sport Charter | $13,230,000 |
| Commercial Harvesting | $17,150,000 |
| Seafood Processing | $15,680,000 |
End of update, please see the second draft spend plan for complete information regarding your sector.
**Original Post
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has released a draft spend plan to allocate the $50 million of Section 12005 money allocated to the Alaska fisheries industry as part of the CARES Act passed by Congress in March. According to the draft, ADF&G plans to distribute the money to three sectors of the fishing industry:
| Aquaculture | 1% or $500,000 |
| Subsistence | 3% or $1,500,000 |
| Sport Charter | 32% or $16,000,000 |
| Commercial Harvesting | 32% or $16,000,000 |
| Seafood Processing | 32% or $16,000,000 |
The above allocations were altered from the NOAA fisheries allocation percentages, due to NOAA basing the initial allocations on prior revenues, not expected losses due to COVID-19
Money will be allocated on a per-share basis based on the number of applicants to the program. Shares will be determined by:
| Aquaculture | Not share based (funds will be allocated based on losses) |
| Subsistence | Equally divided amongst applicant households |
| Sport Charter | |
| Guide | 1 Share |
| Business | 1 Share |
| Guide/Business | 2 Shares |
| Commercial Harvesting | |
| CFEC Fishery Permit | 1 Share |
| CFEC Vessel Permit | 1 Share |
| Seafood Processing | 1-7 shares based on revenue |
Eligibility
Some of the general eligibility requirements are:
- Must be 18 years or older
- Must have more than a 35% loss in revenue due to COVID-19
- Based on a 5-year average
- (Do not factor in other grant funding you may have received, however, if grant funding has increased your revenue above prior years than you will be disqualified)
- Must have operated during 2018 and 2019
Draft Only
Please note that this is a draft only, you are able to submit comments to the ADF&G until 10/19/2020 at dfg.com.caresact@alaska.gov