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Clearly tornado* or earthquakes are deemed by all to be "sudden" natural disasters. But so too are 

 hurricanes and floods They are consistently referred to as sudden events when in fact they often take 

 weeks, even months to develop. A hurricane may spend weeks becoming organized in the South 

 Atlantic. Floods are often a combination of months of haavy rainfall and melting snow Similarly the 

 fishing situation has developed over time, the effect of warming water encouraging depletion by predators 

 and other natural events is in fact no different from the developmental stages of a hurricane or a flood. 

 After monitoring the development of a hurricane it makes landfall. After watching the rivers rise a flood 

 occurs. After watching the gradual fishing situation progress, the fishing grounds were "suddenly" closed 

 and other restrictions imposed, just as "sudden" as the landfall of a hurricane or a flood. 



The Massachusetts Groundfish Fishing Industry has unmet emergency needs that require immediate 

 financial assistance from the Federal government. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has clearly 

 recognized the need for the fishing industry to diversify and has committed untold resources to said effort; 

 a vessel refitting loan program, crisis counseling, retraining programs, etc. This is not enough. The 

 Fishermen need your help. The SBA assistance would provide emergency working capital enabling the 

 fishermen the opportunity to transition into new markets and mitigation against future losses. The needs 

 of the fishermen identified to date will only grow if left untreated. We must take steps today to mitigate 

 against such and support the diversification efforts currently underway. 



In conclusion, we must acknowledge that the disaster now confronting the Fishermen in Massachusetts 

 is both natural and "sudden". I urge this subcommittee to intervene on behalf of the Fishermen and 

 request that the SBA reconsider its position and provide loans to these disaster victims. 



Thank you for the opportunity to share our concerns with the members of this subcommittee. 



