By Julie Tomascik
Editor
Texas aquaculture producers are now eligible for the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA).
The agency announced a policy change in May that makes food fish and other aquatic species eligible for ELAP payments.
It’s welcome news for redfish farmer Brandon Bowers, who lost his redfish crop following February’s winter storm.
“We are extremely grateful and relieved,” said Bowers, who raises redfish near Palacios. “We didn’t know if this was even possible, but we met with our lawmakers and worked with other groups to try to get this accomplished. To see it actually happen is great news for aquaculture producers and other farmers who might want to get into the aquaculture industry.”
Previously, only farm-raised game and bait fish were eligible for death-loss ELAP benefits. But through their efforts and help of organizations, including Texas Farm Bureau (TFB), redfish and catfish farmers now qualify for ELAP.
In March, 14 members of the Texas Congressional delegation sent a letter to FSA asking for redfish farmers to be eligible for ELAP assistance.
“These redfish farms in Texas produce over 95% of domestic farm-raised redfish. Early estimates predict that the total loss will reach 10 million pounds of fish valued at $50 million. A loss of this magnitude will not only drastically reduce revenue for this season, but it will also leave these farmers with no revenue until they have marketable fish again,” the congressional leaders wrote.
TFB communicated with congressional leaders and USDA officials to stress the need for disaster assistance.
“Winter Storm Uri caused Texas redfish farmers to lose basically all of their fish inventory,” Laramie Adams, TFB national legislative director, said. “That’s tough when you’ve been in business for years and even tougher for someone like Brandon Bowers who is relatively new to the industry. Working to make redfish farmers eligible for ELAP payments was essential to protecting this part of the agricultural sector and ensuring these farmers can continue to raise fish and provide for their families. We appreciate the congressional leaders who worked with USDA to ensure redfish were covered, especially Congressman Michael Cloud, whose district includes almost all domestic redfish production. Congressman Cloud and his staff did an excellent job leading this effort.”
To be eligible, losses must have occurred on or after Jan. 1, 2021.
FSA is waiving the requirement to file a notice of loss within 30 calendar days of when the loss is apparent for farm-raised fish and other aquatic species death losses that occurred prior to June 1, 2021.
An aquaculture producer will still need to provide records upon request to document the eligible loss event and demonstrate the beginning and ending inventory.
The deadline to file an application for payment for the 2021 program year is Jan. 31, 2022.
“We want producers of all kinds to know that we’re listening. (This) announcement demonstrates that USDA is committed to helping the aquaculture industry recover from losses due to Winter Storm Uri and other disaster events,” FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux said.
USDA also announced it will purchase up to $159.4 million in domestically-produced seafood, fruits, legumes and nuts for distribution to a variety of domestic food assistance programs. The majority of the purchase includes American seafood—the largest single purchase of American seafood in the agency’s history.
For more information on applying for ELAP, visit www.fsa.usda.gov.