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Fishing Industry in Hawai‘i to Receive Millions in Targeted COVID-19 Aid

A further $1.5 billion in CARES Act emergency assistance is now available nationally through the Economic Development Administration for eligible applicants to combat the impact of the pandemic

Washington, May 7, 2020
Tags: Economy

(Honolulu, HI) – Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) announced today that more than $4.3 million is now available for the State of  Hawaii’s fishing and aquaculture industry impacted by the COVID-19.  The Hawai‘i State Department of Land and Natural Resources is the agency tasked to administer the funds to eligible applicants.

“Those eligible for the funds include commercial fishing businesses, charter for hire fishing companies, qualified aquaculture operations, and marine fisheries management agencies,” said Case.

He said the money was made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), which Congress passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support and signed into law by the President on March 27, 2020.

Nationally, the funds are administered through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Case serves on the U.S. House Committees on Natural Resources and on Appropriations and on those committees’ subcommittees with jurisdiction over NOAA and had urged Commerce to accelerate this critical CARES funding.

For more information on funding for the fishing and aquaculture industries go here https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/commerce-secretary-announces-allocation-300-million-cares-act-funding.

In other news, Case announced that the State of Hawai‘i and the counties are now available to apply for a share of $1.5 billion in emergency assistance through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) aid to combat the effects of COVID-19. 

“Much of that $1.5 billion will come in the form of grants,” said Case. “That source of funding was also made possible through the CARES Act and eligible applicants can seeking funding from EDA under its Economic Adjustment Assistance program (EAA).”

Case said the kinds of projects eligible for this very flexible grant funding include:

  • economic recovery planning and preparing technical assistance strategies to address economic dislocations caused by the coronavirus pandemic,
  • preparing or updating resiliency plans to respond to future pandemics,
  • implementing entrepreneurial support programs to diversify economies, and,
  • constructing public works and facilities that will support economic recovery, including the deployment of broadband for purposes including supporting telehealth and remote learning for job skills.

Eligible applicants under the EAA program include a(n):

  • State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions;
  • Institution of higher education or a consortium of institutions of higher education; or
  • Public or private non-profit organization or association acting in cooperation with officials of a political subdivision of a State.

For more information, please visit the EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance page.

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