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Related Links Massachusetts Groundfish Assistance Program

Congress provided for the program in NOAA’s 2008 appropriation and NOAA's Fisheries Service received the state’s grant proposal on April 16.  This is one of the largest grants ever administered by the agency’s northeast regional office in Gloucester, Mass.

The assistance is expected to be used for direct assistance to fishermen and to assist with health insurance premiums for fishing families. The state's proposal was submitted to NOAA after the Massachusetts division of marine fisheries held public hearings in the fishing communities of Gloucester, New Bedford, and Plymouth, and received comments by phone, mail, and email.

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NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources and their habitat through scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries Service provides effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.