An internal survey performed by the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) of 15 of its members has found U.S. seafood distributors stand to lose a collective USD 1.7 billion (EUR 1.5 billion) in annual revenue in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the companies contacted by the organization, which is the U.S. seafood industry’s national trade group, the average estimate was a 42 percent reduction in revenue, or around USD 113.6 million (EUR 101.1 million) each.
“This illustrates just how hard the middle of the seafood supply chain has been hit,” NFI Vice President of Communications Gavin Gibbons said in an email to SeafoodSource. “Harvesters on one end and restaurants on the other have been devastated as well but without the middle seafood can’t get from water to table.”
Under the CARES Act, which aimed to provide relief to businesses struggling as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus, USD 300 million (EUR 272 million) was specifically dedicated to the seafood industry. However, both industry groups and elected officials from states with a seafood industry presence have said that amount will not come close to cover the industry’s total losses.
The U.S. House of Representatives included USD 100 million (EUR 88.1 million) in additional funding for the seafood sector in its most recent COVID-19 relief bill, but U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has said he will not allow the bill to come for a vote, expressing concerns about other provisions in the USD 3 trillion (EUR 2.6 trillion) bill.
At an event supporting his reelection bid in his home state on 20 June, in McConnell recently said a separate bill containing an aid package focused on jobs and education will be considered by the Senate in July, according to the Huntingdon Herald-Dispatch.
