Fishermen hoping for help with Sandy storm losses   
|   Visit Guest Book  MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (AP) - While Superstorm
Sandy did highly visible damage to homes, boardwalks and roads,
it also walloped the Northeastern fishing industry, whose
workers are hoping for a small piece of any future disaster
assistance that Congress might approve. The storm did millions
of dollars' worth of damage to docks, fish processing plants and
restaurants. But it also caused millions more in lost wages to
boat employees who couldn't work for two to three weeks, to
truck drivers who had nothing to transport, and to other
assorted industries that service commercial fishing. The $9.7
billion measure to fund the National Flood Insurance program,
passed by Congress on Friday, did not include anything for the
fishing industry; a bill the Senate passed in December would
have allocated $150 million for that purpose. The co-op
supported 50 families who either work directly for it or in
supporting roles. Many of those workers simply did wit