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The National Aquaculture Association (NAA) has written to the House and Senate Agriculture and Appropriations committees to recommend a wide range of improvements and changes to prior and current disaster assistance programs.

The California Aquaculture Association (CAA), which holds a seat on the NAA board, provided input for the recommendations based on feedback received from California producers and industry members.

Recommendations included changes or improvements to:

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act

• Simplify application, uncomplicate requirements, act faster, pay directly.
• Create grants with reasonable deliverables based upon farm or business performance measures (e.g., planting or stocking, harvest, operation and maintenance practices).

Section 12005 Assistance to Fishery Participants

• Increase funding.
• Send payments directly to farms.
• Eliminate the 35% loss requirement.

Paycheck Protection Program

• Lengthen the period of time covered.
• Include input costs (i.e., shellfish seed, fish fry/fingerlings).
• Forgive entire loan when payroll is maintained.
• Provide subsidies to employers for employee benefits when a farm or business maintains payroll.
• Encompass all 501(c) non-profit organizations.

• Create additional low or no interest loans.
• Guarantee commercial lenders lines of credit

• Provide financial assistance to hire labor and buy shellfish seed to plant crops.
• Defer loan repayment until crops are harvested and sold.
• Pay for unmarketable crops (lack of market or unmarketable because of product size or other product attributes).
• Create grants to plant or stock farms.
• Create grants to support farms expanding into direct marketing (i.e., purchase of storage and transportation capacities).
• Subsidize existing commercial lines of credit during pandemics or similar market disruptions so that they are not peremptorily canceled.

• Purchase crops that cannot be marketed now or as the pandemic ends.
• Create labor needs matching services (e.g., Representative Crawford’s Arkansas FARM Corps that is matching unemployed National Guard members with farm labor needs).
• Create interruption of business insurance subsidy for pandemics and similar market disruptions.
• Streamline regulations to expand domestic seafood production.
• Purchase unmarketable live shellfish and fish for public restoration, restocking or stock enhancement programs.
• Include all aquaculture crops into USDA specialty crop programs.
• Fast-track the Aquaculture Organic Label rule to expand and diversify domestic and international markets.
• Include all farmed aquatic animals in the Farm Service Agency Livestock Indemnification Program.
• Develop a program similar to the Export Credit Insurance to protect a farmer against the risk of non-payment by domestic or foreign buyers that may not be fully stable after the pandemic.

• Include farmed ornamental fish and plants (aquarium and water gardening products) in Farm Service Agency loan programs.
• Encourage states to fast track unemployment claims, eliminate unemployment rate change penalties as labor is laid off, and exempt COVID-19 unemployment benefit claim charges against the employer.
• Protect an employer if they fire an employ during the pandemic.
• Create an essential products program to ensure delivery of essential products to certain parts of the country that are currently being delayed or prohibited
• Modify the Risk Management Agency Whole Farm Revenue Protection insurance program to allow for catastrophic market impacts associated with pandemics