WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate voted Monday to offer low-interest loans to shellfish growers, who have been out of work for weeks due to a massive outbreak of “red tide” toxic algae.

The Small Business Administration offered the loans to shellfishermen, but not to shellfish growers because they are considered farmers, not fishermen.

A bill eliminating that restriction now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives, said a spokesman for U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who co-sponsored the measure with U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Shellfish growers also will be eligible for assistance under a different loan program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday approved a request to provide assistance to the shellfish growers under the federal Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance program.