Disclaimer: These postings were sent to us from a variety of media sources over the Internet. The content has not been reviewed for scientific accuracy or edited in any manner.

Clammers say SBA offer not enough

Cape Cod Times

June 18, 2005

By DOUG FRASER STAFF WRITER CHATHAM - Wellfleet shellfisherman Woody Clark still had a smile even though life has dealt him some body blows. Three years ago, tiny mussels invaded the net bags that held his crop of oysters that were nearly market-ready. All the oysters died.

Then he suffered a seizure that left him unable to work the past two years.

''I wasn't much use to her,'' he said yesterday morning in Chatham, nodding to his wife and business partner, Peggy Jennings.

''We were really counting on this year to bring us out,'' Clark said just before he and 60 other Cape fishermen filed solemnly into Chatham Town Hall, to listen to federal officials from the Small Business Administration explain relief options for the money they've lost due to red tide.

A bloom of Alexandrium algae has closed shellfish beds from Maine to Cape Cod because its toxin can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans when it builds up in oysters, clams and mussels. Many shellfish beds from Maine to Cape Cod have been closed since the end of May.

The Chatham meeting was one of two held yesterday. Another will be at 10 a.m. today at the Eldredge Library in Chatham.

The SBA is also opening temporary offices in Yarmouth and Wellfleet next week.

To the shellfishermen, the news from Washington was middling, at best.

Donald Etopio, of the SBA, said fishermen and other businesses affected by the fishing closures could qualify for loans of up to $1.5 million at 4 percent interest for terms as long as 30 years.v But Clark and Jennings had more pressing problems. Nearly their entire income comes from shellfishing and from raising oysters and quahogs on tidal land they lease from the town.

''I get $700 a month as a veteran and that will pay the mortgage, but I need other money to be able to live,'' said Clark. ''The only thing that will help us out is income. A loan has to be paid back.''

Those at the meeting are hoping that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will release unemployment funds for those affected. That, however, is dependent on an emergency declaration by President George W. Bush, which has yet to happen.

Mark Forest, representing Rep. William Delahunt, D-Quincy, encouraged fishermen and industry workers to submit applications for the loans.

''I know there is concern about loans, but we don't know about other sources of aid,'' said Forest.

Forest told the crowd that they could expect between $100 and $500 per week in unemployment compensation if Bush does make the declaration and FEMA funds kick in.

''I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but I consider that an insult,'' said Wendy Homer of Chatham. ''I can make $500 a day. Nobody wants to turn down money, but we make 75 percent of our income in the summer.''

Homer said that she and her husband both dig clams for their income. They have a mortgage payment, car payments and a child in college.

''We pay our own medical insurance. This is awful, especially after such a bad winter,'' she said.

Chatham shellfisherman Pete Schimmel said last winter hit the Chatham diggers hard because the heavy snow and stormy weather kept them from working for almost three months.

While he has found temporary work painting, others have not fared as well. Many summer jobs were already filled when the bloom hit around Memorial Day.

''Everyone is scrambling,'' he said.

Jim Kenneway of Eastham said the spring started out well with excellent prices for razor clams. But the red tide closure brought that income to a screeching halt.

''I haven't been shopping in three weeks. I'm lucky to get a meal a day,'' he said.

Things aren't any easier for business owners and other workers who have been affected by red tide closures.

''I won't be able to afford anything any more,'' said Tony Solimini, who was laid off from his job as a shellfish buyer at Southeast Shellfish of Wareham. ''I'm going to lose the house, the truck and the dog,''

Southeast is the second largest processor of frying clams in the state and Solimini was the buyer in charge of purchasing shellfish in Chatham.

Dave Gallant, owner of Southeast Shellfish, said he has put off hiring the nine or 10 people he usually brings in for the busy summer season.

Even if he could find shellfish, the increased media attention has cut into sales, he said.

People don't want to take a chance, despite the assurances that all shellfish in markets and restaurants come from noncontaminated areas and are certified safe by the state.v If the news on aid wasn't exactly satisfying, the news on red tide offered even less comfort.v Michael Hickey, chief shellfish biologist for the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said the toxin levels in shellfish in closed areas are continuing to go up. That news was tempered by the fact that the areas that are still open remained open yesterday.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers also reported finding dense concentrations of Alexandrium algae cells a few miles south of Martha's Vineyard. The cells counts were extremely high at 38,000 cells per liter when a normal bloom might have around 100 per liter.

''Rhode Island and New York have been put on alert,'' said Hickey, although he thinks ocean currents will deflect the cells from those states.

Doug Fraser can be reached at dfraser@capecodonline.com.