Feds to Fishermen: Sorry, No Cash For You

A few weeks ago, Gov. Mitt Romney asked the feds for some natural disaster relief money to help assuage the economic damage wrought by the recent red tide affecting most shellfish off Massachusetts' shores. Among the dangerous foods are clams, mussels, and oysters, although lobster is still OK to eat. Unfortunately for the fishermen, the feds just denied the request, saying that the recent red tide is not bad enough to warrant natural disaster money.

Bostonist doesn't claim to know very much about algae or the red tide, but we did have a rather expensive (more so than usual) meal at Skipjack's recently, as the only seafood Bostonist eats is clams and mussels. Indeed, Bostonist's younger, college-age sister is working on Martha's Vineyard this summer and had a difficult time finding a job - everyone was concerned that tourism would be down and they wouldn't need as many seasonal workers as usual. The role of the red tide apparently changed shop owners' minds, as the concern a few weeks ago was that without enough guest-workers the Cape’s tourism would be crippled.

Shellfish is still available, albeit at a much higher price, and lobster and scallops aren't affected. Still, Bostonist thinks the feds should step in and help Massachusetts fishermen whose livelihood is extremely affected by a natural disaster, something completely beyond anyone's control.

Article and photo contributed by Meghan Kelly