Digital Extra

Briggs would have been in that boat yesterday, scouring the pond's bottom for steamer clams. But since last Friday, he and hundreds of other fishermen have been grounded by the massive oil spill that has fouled their fishing grounds.

"I'll probably end up looking for other work," said Briggs, 35, at the thought of losing the only job he has known -- summer or winter -- for eight years. "I'm possibly talking about the rest of my life."

But even as Briggs spoke, a consortium of government and private agencies was combining forces to try to make sure that doesn't happen to Briggs or to the estimated 2,000 workers whose livelihoods have been jolted by the spill.

Today, the state opens a Business Recovery Center in South Kingstown, designed to be a one-stop economic rescue office, where those affected by the spill can seek loans, file for unemployment and process insurance claims.

In addition, claims officials for the insurance company covering the leaking oil barge were again to give out claims information at the Holiday Inn in South Kingstown, where yesterday they handed forms to some 200 people.

A variety of other organizations, from the Chamber of Commerce of South Kingstown to the Jonnycake Center food pantry and thrift shop, were stepping forward to help displaced workers get a week's worth of meals and perhaps find temporary jobs.

Still, the immediate outlook may be bleak for many of the workers who depend on the sea for a living, in part because many fishermen are not covered by government unemployment benefits.

Many seafood industry workers do not work for employers who pay unemployment taxes, but rather are self-employed, such as fishing crews who are paid in "shares" of their boats' catch.

Although many may be able to recover their lost incomes from the insurance policies that cover the barge North Cape, they may not be able to file claims for however long it takes the spill's effects to abate.

"My concern, and I know the governor's concern, is that we want to make sure people have cash in hand so they can survive," said Lawrence G. Fitch, director of the Department of Employment and Training.

But one bureaucratic glitch is that the spill -- the largest in Rhode Island history -- does not qualify as a federal emergency, Fitch said. Therefore, money that might help self-employed people aren't available.

Briggs is one of those for whom cash is an immediate crisis.

Winter hauls of clams are lean enough, even with his willingness to set out daily at 6 a.m. in zero cold in his open aluminum boat. But this year, things already were worse even before the oil spill gummed up the works.

In December, his 22-month-old son, Brian Jr., became desperately ill when, as his mother, Gail Briggs, was driving him home from a doctor's visit for flu, the toddler suffered violent "fever seizures" and eventually wound up in Children's Hospital in Boston.

Back home now, Brian Jr. is much better. But Gail had to quit her job as a Cumberland Farms clerk to care for him; heating bills grew -- their tiny rented cottage is warmed with expensive electric heat; the hospital sent a $16,000 bill; Gail fell behind in payments for their only car.

In desperation, the family showed up yesterday at the Jonnycake Center in Peace Dale to collect several boxes of food, including frozen chicken and canned soup, enough to last them for a week.

"We've never done it," Brian said later in their home on Durkin Drive. "I've never collected any kind of food. I've always tried to make it on my own."

Earlier, Brian and Gail had driven to the Holiday Inn on Route 1 in South Kingstown to fill out forms from adjusters representing the Water Quality Insurance Syndicate, which is covering the first $10 million of North Cape claims.

But a check is weeks and perhaps longer away. Briggs had to think the unthinkable: looking for other kinds of work. He said he's already looked, and there's nothing available, except in fast-food restaurants.

"I'm just not built for that," Briggs noted, rubbing his muscular, tattooed arms. "I'm built, more or less, for hard labor."

It's possible Briggs could qualify for short-term loans that are to be processed today at the Business Recovery Center, where the state will make short-term working capital loans up to $25,000 and the U.S. Small Business Administration will offer long-term loans up to $1.5 million.

That center was being readied yesterday at the Stedman Government Center in Wakefield, where furniture was trucked in from other state offices, unloaded by Adult Correctional Institutions inmates.

Lisa DiRaimo, a research analyst for the state Economic Development Corporation, found an "octopus" of phones on the bare floors when she showed up at 7:40 a.m. By noon, there were desks, file cabinets and chairs.

Even though the center was not open for business yesterday, the phones started ringing as soon as DiRaimo showed up -- some 75 calls by noon -- and 15 people walked in looking for help.

Back at Point Judith Pond, Brian Briggs wondered whether he would qualify for a loan, given his other debts. And he wondered what would happen to his family and his beloved fishing career.

"I'll probably end up looking for another job," Briggs said. "But I really love the work. It's probably the kind of job a lot of people wouldn't like, but I like the freedom, being out in the air.

"I miss it already. I wish was out there right now."