25-14-CWS | April 30, 2025
BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Sound was inundated with freshwater from March through August of 2019, which resulted in severe impacts to multiple fisheries. These impacts included mass mortalities of oyster reefs and loss of Brown Shrimp recruitment which caused landings to decline the following year of 2020. Specifically, the oyster season for on-bottom commercial harvest remained closed due to large scale mortality, and Brown Shrimp relative abundance decreased more than 80% coupled with severe losses in ex-vessel revenue.
On January 29, 2024, NOAA allocated $2,993,283 to respond to the impacts of the 2020 Mississippi Shrimp and Oyster fishery disaster, appropriated by Congress through the 2023 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-328) and under the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Act, 2022 for fisheries disaster assistance.
The 2020 Mississippi Bonnet Carré Spillway Fisheries Disaster Recovery Program financial assistance applications for commercial shrimp and wild oyster license holders (Type 6, 7, 51, 52, 53) will open Friday, May 2, 2025, at 8 a.m. on the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) website at dmr.ms.gov/2020bcrelief/.
Applicants must be a Mississippi resident 18 years or older and have possessed a valid Mississippi resident commercial shrimp or on-bottom oyster fishing 2019 or 2020 calendar year license with MDMR documented landings, which will be verified by MDMR through trip tickets during the following five historical license years (May 1-April 30) 2015-2019. If applying as a business, it must be domiciled in Mississippi, registered and in good standing with the Mississippi Office of the Secretary of State.
Participants who received funds as part of the 2019 Mississippi Bonnet Carré Spillway Fisheries Disaster Recovery Program financial assistance for commercial shrimp and wild oyster license holders are eligible and only recertification of submitted information is needed. Past participants must take the steps to recertify their information as found in the email they will receive to confirm participation in the 2020 program and to verify the accuracy of their existing information.
Applications will be open for 60 days and will close on Monday, June 30, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. No late applications will be considered and there will be no appeals if the deadline is missed. Funding allocation has been structured so that only applications submitted by the deadline will be considered. Payout will be split among all individual fishermen across all eligible fisheries based on participation as determined by the MDMR.
The following information will be needed for the application process: contact information, valid email address, all applicable 2019 calendar year fishing license numbers, date of birth and social security number or employer ID tax number. A W-9 form, incorporated into the application, will also be required for payment, and retained by MDMR.
For assistance submitting an application, contact the MDMR at 228-374-5000. For questions regarding the status of an application or payment, or if an email with completed individual application information is not received, contact Traci Floyd at 228-523-4068 or 2020bcrelief@dmr.ms.gov.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is dedicated to enhancing, protecting and conserving marine interests of the state by managing all marine life, public trust wetlands, adjacent uplands and waterfront areas to provide for the optimal commercial, recreational, educational and economic uses of these resources consistent with environmental concerns and social changes. Visit the DMR online at dmr.ms.gov.
