Rep. Chris Smith, center, stops in at the Reel Seat tackle shop in Brielle, NJ Saturday. On Instagram, Reel Seat praised Smith for “fighting hard for our right to fish!”
POINT PLEASANT, NJ – After working through the week to win a safe easing of the COVID-19 restrictions on the for-hire fishing boats, Rep. Chris Smith met with captains and customers early Saturday morning as they boarded local vessels and kicked-off the 2020 fluke fishing season.
Dale Parsons is a fifth-generation clammer whose family has owned Parsons Seafood in Tuckerton since 1909. He’s quick to tell you, proudly, that his facility in Little Egg Harbor has both an oyster shell recycling program andthe only restored living oyster reef in New Jersey.
These days, however, things at Parsons Seafood are tight. The coronavirus pandemic, and the wave of restrictions put in place to slow the disease, has pushed his business down about 40%, Parsons said.
That big hit is driven by the loss of restaurant demand — no one eating at restaurants means no one is ordering fish.“We’re d… Read the rest of this entry »
WASHINGTON, DC—New Jersey’s hard-hit fishing industry, rocked by the coronavirus restrictions that have all but brought their businesses to a standstill, will receive assistance to the tune of $11,337,797 from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and economic Security (CARES) Act, said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04).
