The American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources has been awarded a grant of more than $700,000 in Covid assistance for seafood processors and dealers by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The grant for American Samoa comes from a pool of $50 million to support seafood processors, processing facilities and processing vessels through the Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant Program (SPRS).
The total grant for DMWR is $792,209.
A press release from USDA says the grant is to be help defray costs incurred by seafood processing facilities and processing vessels preparing for, preventing exposure to, and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grant recipients include state agencies, commissions, or departments responsible for agriculture, fisheries, wildlife, seafood, commercial processing, or related commerce activities.
American Samoa is the only territory receiving assistance.
“USDA is working with agricultural and food businesses to ensure that, following the pandemic disruptions, they have the resources and tools to continue building more and better markets, and to thrive in 2022 and beyond,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. “This funding for seafood processors and processing vessels will serve as a bridge, providing relief to an industry that was greatly affected by the pandemic as well as the resulting changes in consumer demand.
Once USDA has made awards, state agencies will provide funds to seafood processing facilities and processing vessels and applications shoukd be made directly through their state agency which in American Samoa’s case is DMWR.
Usda encourages the prioritizing of applications that benefit smaller processors and vessels, socially disadvantaged processors, veteran processors, and/or underserved communities.
