New York Conservation Officers Association

Total of $4.8 Million Available for Relief to Individuals and Communities

Governor George E. Pataki recently announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce has given final approval for $3.65 million in federal aid to assist New York State lobstermen devastated by the severe die-off of lobsters in Long Island Sound in 1999. This funding will be matched by $1.2 million in State funds for a total of $4.8 million available for disaster relief for impacted individuals and communities.

The funds respond to a request from Governor Pataki for Congressional financial

and technical assistance in response to the lobster problem. Federal disaster assistance can provide up to 75 percent of a relief program,with the other 25 percent coming from a non-federal source such as the State of New York.

"The 1999 lobster die-off has had a devastating impact on New York's lobstermen, a critically important commercial industry in our State," said Governor Pataki. "Today's approval of New York's spending plan will expedite the allocation of financial assistance to ease the hardship on these fishermen. In addition, it continues federal and State efforts to research its cause and ultimately to recover and overcome this challenge."

Through the supplemental appropriations Federal Fiscal Year 2000, Congress agreed to provide a total of $7.3 million in economic assistance to New York and Connecticut lobstermen. An appropriation of $6.6 million to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was also provided to research the causes of the die-off. New York State will provide a 25 percent matching fund--contributing $1,216,667 million--for a total disaster relief fund of $4,866,667 million.

New York will pay compensation to individuals for reductions in the number of lobsters caught in the Long Island lobster fishery in the 1999 fishing season, as compared to such catch in the 1998 fishing season as a result of the lobster disaster; provide direct sustaining aid to fishermen; provide assistance to communities that are dependent on such fishery and have suffered losses from such disaster. More than 60 percent of the total fund is dedicated to compensation for individual losses in the 1999 lobster fishing season.

As New York's designated lead agency, Empire State Development (ESD), took several steps to assure that the proposed spending plan addressed the needs of the lobster fishery community. In October 200l, ESD surveyed the commercially licensed lobster harvesters to document the scope of their 1999 losses and gauge their interest in various approaches to financial compensation, training and technical assistance. Working closely with the New York

Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), ESD developed a plan that addressed long-term management objectives for the lobster fishery as well as immediate aid and relief to the fishing community.

All commercially licensed lobstermen were notified of the disaster relief fund and application process on May 31, 2001. ESD mailed complete application packets to all lobstermen who had responded to the survey, as well as to all other harvesters and dealers who had contacted ESD requesting information--approximately 230 in all. The remaining commercially licensed harvesters who had not responded to the earlier survey or otherwise contacted ESD (approximately 550), received a letter informing them of the availability of the application and instructions on how to request it.

ESD has received 92 applications for loss compensation to date. Funds remain available for loss compensation, and lobstermen may still apply if they have not yet done so. ESD has also received 22 separate applications for the trap tag buy-back program. The deadline for applying to the trap tag buy-back program is August 31, 2001.

Traditionally, New York State's most valuable commercial fishery resource is its high quality lobster. In 1998 alone, New York's lobstermen landed 8.5 million pounds of lobster, worth an estimated $30 million at dockside. There are more than 700 resident commercial lobster license holders and approximately 325 seafood dealer license holders in the State.

In 1999, however, lobstermen who fish the waters off Long Island Sound faced serious losses due to a severe die-off of lobsters. As a result, Governor Pataki and Connecticut Governor John T. Rowland formally requested in December 1999 that the United States Department of Commerce declare a commercial fishery failure for the lobster fishery of Long Island Sound.

In response to the Governors' request, the federal government declared the Sound a commercial fishery failure under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act and the Sustainable Fisheries Act Amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Act. That declaration paved the way for Congress to provide necessary funds to mitigate the impact on lobstermen, and to research the cause of the lobster die-off.

New York State allocated additional funds to research the cause of marine diseases such as the lobster die-off. The enacted budget for 2000-01 includes two appropriations of $500,000 each for research on marine diseases and pathology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and at the Marine Disease and Pathology Research Consortium.