Everyone is feeling the high price of fuel these days, but for some industries, like commercial fishing, the rising cost is inescapable.

On Oct. 19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a Harvest Fuel Relief Program. The announcement, which came just ahead of the midterm elections, pledged $8 billion in one-time payments to American farmers and fishermen to provide relief for market disruptions and increased operating costs.

Hundreds of thousands of farmers and thousands of commercial fishermen nationwide could be eligible to share in the money. The USDA has not said when it will start accepting applications or when the money would start going out.

Wrangell fishermen said that although they are unsure how equitable the distribution of funds will be, anything is better than nothing.

“Some people are going to benefit more from this type of program than others,” said commercial halibut fisherman John Yeager. “Even though it’s supposed to be evenly distributed.”

Yeager and his wife, Brenda Schwartz-Yeager, have been commercially fishing halibut out of Wrangell since 2008. On a regular eight- or nine-hour work day, Yeager said their 42-foot Lindell with “a big 600 horse diesel in it” can easily burn 20 to 30 gallons of fuel.

He said they just switched boats at the beginning of the season, which was lucky because the new boat is more fuel efficient. However, because they spent the early part of the season in the boatyard when he would usually be fishing, he couldn’t be picky about when he went out for the rest of the season and just had to “eat the cost” of the fuel.

He said he had heard about crabbers who cut their seasons short due to fuel costs.

“With high fuel prices and insurance costs and bait costs, you leave the dock in the hole quite often, and that’s not a good feeling,” Yeager said. “It’s hard to maintain a business plan because you’re constantly adjusting for all these different increases in expenses.”

Fisherman Antonio Silva runs a 46-foot combination fishing vessel called the Danegeld, named for the Danish geld that Anglo Saxons paid the Vikings not to raid their villages. He participates in five fisheries including halibut, Dungeness crab, salmon gillnetting and trolling, and pot shrimp.

“For every fishery, our number one expense is diesel fuel. Obviously, we have some high costs with maintenance and especially with repowering or one-time kind of expenses,” Silva said. “However, diesel is a constant.”

He said crabbing, like the winter Dungeness crab season he was just wrapping up, is a high fuel-use fishery. In crabbing, a vessel will go out and set traps as they go, and then return after a period of time to retrieve them. Additionally, the farther a fisherman has to travel to find crabs, the more they’re spending in fuel to do so.

“If I want to run to Ketchikan, it’s 300-400 bucks just in fuel one way. Not to mention the daily activity of crabbing,” Silva said. “So it does impact your decision on where you fish.”

Both Silva and Yeager said that although they weren’t sure exactly how the federal program would function for fishermen, they would be happy to get some sort of reimbursement for the extra money spent on fuel this season.

Silva said he thought it was wonderful to get recognized alongside farmers for the work they do, but he knows it could take a long time for the money to come through. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it took three years to be dispersed.”

The application period is not yet open and it is unclear how it will incorporate fishermen.

Borough Economic Development Director Kate Thomas said the USDA is working with state and local agencies to collect data from fishermen for the program. Groups like the Pacific Seafood Processors Association are helping to collect information to create guidelines for the upcoming application process, in cooperation with U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan’s office.

“Recognizing a fisherman under USDA is a new concept,” Thomas said, “and it’ll take time for them to figure out how they evaluate the criteria and analyze the applications and issue that relief.”

To help with the data collection process, Thomas has set up a survey where fishermen can voluntarily share information about their operation and fuel use to help the USDA set up the application. The survey is available on the borough’s Facebook page or at https://bit.ly/4BEipZ5, and can be filled out through Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Until the federal government sets up the program, establishes the eligibility criteria and starts accepting applications, fishermen don’t know how much money they might receive.

“Time is money,” said Yeager. “Am I getting the benefit of the time I’m going to invest in this?”