BOSTON (AP) – Shellfish grower Barbara Austin has been out of work, just like hundreds of shellfishermen, ever since a toxic “red tide” closed shellfishing areas across the state earlier this month.

The difference is that she and nearly 300 other aquaculturists aren’t eligible for the same low-interest loans to help them weather the financial storm.

Austin, of Wellfleet, pursued a loan from the Small Business Administration before learning they’re reserved for the state’s roughly 1,500 shellfishermen. The state’s 287 licensed aquaculturists, who plant and harvest shellfish, aren’t eligible because the SBA considers them farmers, not fishermen.

Austin said the rule was “kind of a slap in the face.”

“If they’re going to make offers like this, they should have been clear about what they’re really offering,” she said Tuesday.

In response, members of the state’s congressional delegation Tuesday sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, urging him to make emergency financial assistance available to aquaculturists and fish farmers in eight Massachusetts counties.

Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who also spearheaded a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown asking him to meet with the delegation, said FEMA should coordinate the federal disaster relief for those affected by the red tide.

The shellfishermen, said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., “shouldn’t be blocked from receiving low interest loans because of bureaucratic red tape.”

In the meantime, most of the shellfish beds shut down along the coast of Massachusetts will remain closed for at least four to five more weeks, state shellfish biologist Michael Hickey said Tuesday.

Hickey said the size and intensity of the toxic algae bloom is dropping in the waters off the North Shore and Cape Cod, but it could take two more weeks for the bloom to completely disappear. After that, he added, it would take two to three more weeks before shellfish beds can reopen.

“The good news is that areas we do have open are safe. The shellfish on the market is safe. The beaches are safe,” Hickey said. “The bad news is, it’s not over. (The bloom) is not going to be over for another couple of weeks.”

The red tide algae contaminates shellfish such as clams and mussels, making them unsafe for people and animals to eat. The outbreak is the region’s worst since 1972.