The Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) today accepted and began a review of a petition for trade adjustment assistance filed under the Fiscal Year 2011 program by the New Hampshire Commercial Fisherman’s Association on behalf of northeast multi-species fish producers in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. A public hearing, requested by the petitioners, was held August 12, 2010, so they could present evidence showing that imported ground fish are in direct competition with eastern ground fish production in the Northeastern region. The Administrator will determine within 40 days whether increasing imports of multi-species fish contributed importantly to a greater than 15-percent decrease in the average annual price of multi-species fish compared to the average of the three preceding marketing years. If a determination is affirmative, producers who produce and market multi-species fish in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island will be eligible to apply to the Farm Service Agency for free technical assistance and cash benefits.