Business

MS seafood processors are eligible for COVID relief money. Here’s how to apply

JOHN FITZHUGH/SUN HERALD/FILE A shrimp boat trawls the waters of the Mississippi Sound south of Gulfport. A new report shows that imported shrimp not fit to eat is being turned away from the United States. American Shrimp Processors Association, based in Biloxi, is encouraging consumers to question what is in their seafood and buy domestic shrimp.
JOHN FITZHUGH/SUN HERALD/FILE A shrimp boat trawls the waters of the Mississippi Sound south of Gulfport. A new report shows that imported shrimp not fit to eat is being turned away from the United States. American Shrimp Processors Association, based in Biloxi, is encouraging consumers to question what is in their seafood and buy domestic shrimp. JOHN FITZHUGH SUN HERALD

Mississippi seafood processors have until August 16 to apply for federal COVID relief funds through the Department of Marine Resources.

The state’s seafood processing industry was granted $1.6 million, awarded through the USDA’s Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant Program, in February.

The funds are intended to “assist in defraying the expenses of preparing for, preventing exposure to and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic for seafood processing facilities and processing vessels,” according to a DMR press release.

To qualify for funding, applicants must live in Mississippi and must have possessed a valid seafood processor license at some point in the last three years.

Potential COVID-related costs the funds can be used to recoup include expenses associated with workplace safety measures, the shift to an online sales model, and the provision of vaccinations and testing.

To apply for the funding, visit dmr.ms.gov/SPRS and submit an application online.

GM
Gautama Mehta
Sun Herald
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