DMR is getting $1.6M to help Coast seafood workers hit by COVID-19. What to know.

Mississippi’s seafood processing industry will receive a $1.6 million boost from the federal government to help recover from the economic damage inflicted by the COVID pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Feb. 14 it is granting $50 million to state agencies to help seafood processors and processing vessels pay pandemic-related costs.

The funding comes from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, passed by Congress in December 2020.

The Mississippi agency which received funds through the USDA’s Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant Program is the Department of Marine Resources.

Neighboring Louisiana received $4.2 million, which will be directed to its Agricultural Finance Authority.

The state which received the most assistance through the grant program is Alaska, which was awarded over $30 million.

Mississippi seafood processors seeking financial assistance through the grant program should apply through the DMR.