Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Fisheries Assistance Program

L.D.W.F. FISHERIES ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR KATRINA-RITA DAMAGES NEARING OCT. 31 APPLICATION DEADLINE

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is reminding qualified commercial resident fishermen, certain commercial fishing vessel license holders, wholesale/retail seafood dealers and charter boat fishing guides, impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, that the deadline for submitting required forms for federal fisheries economic assistance is Oct. 31, 2008.

The South Central Planning and Development Commission (SCPDC) is receiving and processing all information about this assistance program and anyone who is qualified to receive assistance and has not received a packet should contact the SCPDC as soon as possible by calling 1-800-630-3791 (toll-free) or 985-655-1051 (local) or mailing SCPDC at P.O. Box 1240, Gray, LA 70359-9902 or visiting the SCPDC Web site at www.scpdc.org/fisheriesassistance. Any questions concerning eligibility, requests for information, etc. should also be directed to the SCPDC.

The LDWF is providing $28.2 million in assistance to the state’s commercial fishing and charter boat industries through a $41.3 million federal fisheries economic assistance grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Louisiana resident commercial fishermen, certain commercial fishing vessel license holders and wholesale/retail seafood dealers with trip ticket recorded sales or purchases of seafood during the twelve-month period (Sept. 1, 2004 - Aug 31, 2005) prior to Hurricane Katrina as well as Louisiana resident charter boat operators who held a LDWF charter boat fishing guide license in the qualifying period (Sept. 1, 2004 – Aug 31, 2005) qualify for some level of personal assistance. The LDWF requires trip tickets to collect commercial landings and associated information by trip.

Approximately $26.9 million is available for fisheries economic assistance payments to qualified participants under this program. To date, LDWF has received completed forms from 4,437 eligible participants and processed assistance payments totaling $10.4 million to 2,359 of these participants. An additional 1,120 participants have been contacted by SCPDC and advised that they submitted incomplete information and provided with additional information and instructions. Approximately 2,900 eligible participants have failed to respond and LDWF suggests that anyone in touch with these qualifying participants urge them to contact SCPDC as soon as possible.

LDWF News Release 2008-276

As a member of Louisiana’s fishing community, you help contribute a significant portion of the total US seafood harvest of shrimp, oysters, blue crabs, finfish and wild crawfish. Like many members of the fishing community, you may still be recovering from the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Congress has acted, appropriating disaster funding to assist the fishing community through NOAA and the Gulf State’s Marine Fisheries Commission. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will use the funds for direct assistance to Louisiana resident commercial fishermen, commercial vessel license holders in certain fisheries and wholesale/retail dealers.

Eligibility will be based on trip-ticket recorded sales or purchases of seafood between September 1, 2004 and August 31, 2005.

Packets containing Certification Forms and instructions will be mailed to eligible participants the week of May 12th.

Please complete the yellow forms:

• “Qualification for Federal Fisheries Economic Assistance and Federal Form W-9
• Board Resolution form for corporations

Return the forms to South Central Planning in the pre-paid envelope provided NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 31, 2008.

Information Packet and Forms

Important Information

The online availability of information packets has been temporarily suspended. Please contact the Fisheries Assistance Staff at 1-800-630-3791 or (985) 655-1051 to determine your eligibility.

• Complete Application Packet Packet
1. Form A-Certification Form (Example)
2. Cover Letter and Instructions
3. Allocation Tables
4. Payment Tables
5. Form B-Sample Board Resolution
6. Form C-Trip Ticket Request Form
7. Form W-9
• Payment Estimate Worksheet

All documents are provided as Adobe PDF documents. If you are having difficulties viewing these documents, please use the following link to download the latest version Adobe Acrobat Reader. Download

Meetings

Attendance of these meetings is not mandatory for eligibility. Meetings will be held at the following dates and times for the following areas:

• Cameron – Tuesday, May 20th (5:00PM)
  Cameron Parish Courthouse
  119 Smith Circle, Cameron, LA 70631
• Abbeville – Wednesday, May 21st (2:00PM &6:00PM)
  L.S.U. Ag Center
  1105 West Port Street, Abbeville, LA 70510
• Chalmette – Wednesday, May 28th (5:30PM)
  Chalmette High School Cafeteria
  1100 E. Judge Perez Drive
  Chalmette, LA 70043
• Lafitte – Thursday, May 29th (2:00PM & 6:30PM)
  Lafitte Auditorium
  4953 City Park Drive, Lafitte, LA 70067
• Houma – Tuesday, June 3rd (2:30 & 6:30PM)
  South Terrebonne High School Cafeteria
  3879 Highway 24, Bourg, LA 70343
• Belle Chasse – Wednesday, June 4th (2:00PM & 6:30PM)
  Belle Chasse H.S. Theatre
  8346 Highway 23, Belle Chasse, LA 70037

Click here to download the the meeting brochure in English.

Click here to download the the meeting brochure in Vietnamese.

Directions

5058 West Main St.

Houma, La 70364

Have questions?

Contact South Central Planning

1-800-630-3791 or (985) 655-1051

Mail: P.O. Box 1870, Gray, LA 70359

Internet: www.scpdc.org/fisheriesassistance