(Juneau) — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announces that “Round 1” of CARES Act relief checks for Alaska fishery participants are now being mailed.

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission is currently mailing via USPS the “Round 1” CARES Act relief checks for Alaska fishery participants to qualified applicants. Alaska was allocated $50 million of the $300 million available for the national program. 2,534 checks for all qualified AK commercial harvesters, seafood processors, sport fishing charter and aquaculture applicants were mailed by 12/17/2021. 3,669 checks for all qualified subsistence fishery participants are being mailed this week ending 12/24/2021.

Due to the holiday influx of mail and normal delivery delays to Alaska addresses, please allow a minimum of 3-4 weeks before contacting the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission about the status of your relief check. PSMFC will begin responding to these inquiries the week of January 17th.

PSMFC contact info. PH: 888-517-7262; Email: AKCares@psmfc.org ; Web address: https://relief.psmfc.org/alaska-cares-act-information/

The Round 1 share price for each sector was calculated using the total number of eligible shares within a sector divided by the total amount of available funding, similar to Alaska’s PFD calculation. Individual payments may be smaller based upon your calculated absolute loss (maximum relief amount) or larger due to additional funding as a carryover from those limited by their absolute losses. https://relief.psmfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FINAL-ADFG-CARES-Act-Payment-Amendment_2021.10.07.pdf

Individuals who were disqualified or ineligible to apply for Round 1 relief will receive a letter informing them of the final determination. Those letters will be mailed the week of January 27th. There is no appeals process.

There will be a second round of relief for Alaska fishery participants. Alaska was allocated $40 million of the $255 million available for the program. We anticipate that “Round 2” applications will become available in mid-late January 2022 from the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.

All round 1 fishery sector participants except aquaculture will be eligible for round 2 relief. https://relief.psmfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FINAL-ADFG-CARES-Act-Payment-Amendment_2021.10.07.pdf

Round 2 eligibility requirements and share payment calculations for eligible sectors will be the same as round 1. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/news/ongoingissues/pdfs/consolidated_appropriations_act_final_spend_plan_10_30_21.pdf.

Round 2 applicants will need to know their Round 1 relief amounts in order to apply for Round 2 funds.

  Alaska, cares act, fisherment, pandemic, relief checks, round 1