PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 1, 2020
Restaurants build close relationships with fishermen and their distributors so they can serve the most sustainable seafood in the world, caught by fishermen in their own community. But with COVID-19’s devastation, we’ve seen many restaurants’ cash drawers sit at $0 for months and seafood sales decline by 80 percent. Independent restaurants have lost more jobs than any other industry, but aside from the 11 million workers they directly employ, over 5 million more workers are employed by industries up and down their supply chains. Restaurants don’t need more short-term loans. They need grants that would help us stay afloat for the entirety of this crisis. ~ Leigh Habegger, Seafood Harvesters of America, and Andrew Taylor, Arlin Smith and Mike Wiley, of Eventide Oyster Co.