Commercial fishermen and eligible shoreside businesses will get their first opportunity tonight to question state officials on Massachusetts’ plan to distribute $14.5 million in federal groundfish disaster aid money.

The state Division of Marine Fisheries has scheduled a 6 p.m. open meeting at the DMF’s Annisquam River Station at 30 Emerson Ave. that will include some heavy-hitters from the state, including Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin and DMF Director Paul Diodati, DMF Deputy Director David Pierce and DMF policy analyst Melanie Griffin.

The meeting will be the first of four that DMF has scheduled in communities along coastal Massachusetts to discuss the plan that is designed to pay $6.3 million in direct financial assistance — or $32,463 each — to 194 eligible Bay State fishermen, including 53 in Gloucester.

Read the full story at Gloucester Times>>

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