54 



announced in Boston a $30 million aid package. In reality, however, when this pack- 

 age is coupled with eflbrts from other Federal agencies, including the Department 

 0! Labor, tne Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Small Business 

 Administration (SBA), and various state agencies, incluoing the Massachusetts In- 

 dustrial Services program, the total aid package is slightly over $60 million. 



My office has worked closely with agencies both within and outside the Depart- 

 ment and developed a cooperative working relationship which surely is the emoodi- 

 ment of "reinventing government" — a theme and concept embraced by the President. 



Let me just list some of the efforts we have undertaken to date: 



1. We successfully entered into a cooperative agreement with the National Fish 

 and Wildlife Foundation to administer $1.5 million in funds initially designated for 

 the Northwest Atlantic Ocean Fisheries Reinvestment program. In this way, we will 

 be able to leverage funds through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation com- 

 munity. We currently are reviewing proposals and expect to make awards within 

 the next several weeks. 



2. As part of the review process for making these awards, we have instituted a 

 review committee consisting of representatives from the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service (NMFS), the National Fisn and Wildlife Foundation, and the Office of Sus- 

 tainable Development to ensure that the projects are consistent with a comprehen- 

 sive approach to aid the region. By doing so, we can coordinate our efTorts with 

 those 01 other grant programs to ensure the most efTective use of limited dollars. 

 Additionally, we can also coordinate our efforts to address identifiable needs as de- 

 termined by individuals who participated in two series of town meetings which were 

 held in nine communities in tne first five months of this year. 



3. In April, we established fishing family assistance centers in Gloucester, New 

 Bedford, Provincetown, and Portland, Maine. These centers were set up in conjunc- 

 tion with the Industrial Services Program here in Massachusetts and are intended 

 to serve as one-stop shops for assistance to fishermen and their families. In addi- 

 tion, we recently have established two mobile centers in Narragansett, Rhode Is- 

 land, and Rockland, Maine to service areas not covered by the permanent centers. 

 Although the centers have gone through expected growing pains, we have recently 

 announced the hiring of six employees to staff the centers on a full-time basis. The 

 purpose of the centers is to serve as full-service assistance points for fishermen who 

 need information on the range of federal, state, and local assistance available to 

 them. 



4. On July 11th, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced the 

 award of more than $6 million in grants to fishing communities, including $1.5 mil- 

 lion to Gloucester and $2.5 million to New Bedford. The purpose of these grants is 

 to establish revolving loan funds which will then loan money to fishermen and fish- 

 ing-related businesses to help them during this difficult transition. One of the dis- 

 tinguishing characteristics of these monies is that the decisions on these loans are 

 to be made at the local level, which in our estimation is the appropriate level. 



5. On July 8th, NMFS published in the Federal Register a solicitation for $4.5 

 million in fishing industry grants designed "to meet the most pressing needs of fish- 

 ermen who are affected by the decline of the traditional fisheries in the northeast 

 and recent federal regulatory actions, and who require assistance in developing al- 

 ternative employment or new business opportunities." The application deadline is 

 August 22 and applications should be sent to the NMFS regional office in Glouces- 

 ter. A copy of the notice outlining the process is attached to my written testimony, 

 and I also have applications with me for anyone who is Interested. Also, informa- 

 tional meetings are being held in the family assistance centers to discuss grant ap- 

 plication procedures. 



6. We nave established a working relationship between NMFS and the EDA to 

 review all grants and loans in an effort to ensure that loans are not made which 

 could have an adverse impact upon the resource. This review process serves as a 

 resource check on the economic development elements of the comprehensive plan. 



7. After numerous meetings and discussions with representatives from the re- 

 gion's financial institutions, tne SBA has developed a special fishing industry loan 

 guarantee program entitled the Fishing Industry Loan Restructuring Initiative. This 

 program involves SBA working with financial lenders to place an aCTeed \jpon 

 amount of debt either on a standby basis or else completely written on and SBA 

 will then guarantee the remainder. For the purposes of this initiative, the 29-day 

 currency rule that exists in the current SBA 7(a) program is waived. This is a para- 

 mount consideration in light of the cyclical nature of fishing industry income. 



8. Finally, a report documenting the needs identified in the northeastern commu- 

 nities and recommendations as to where we go from here will be released shortly. 

 The report reflects our efTorts to date and is intended to act as a road map for future 

 fisheries policies. 



