Published: May 20, 2008 12:32 am            

Senators cry foul over fishery schedule

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Massachusetts and Maine's U.S. senators want to know how many fish are available before they order any new fishing restrictions.

The senators -- Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, and Democrats Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry of Massachusetts -- issued their joint request for a postponement of additional fishing cutbacks in a letter dated Friday to Dr. James Balsiger, the acting assistant administrator of fisheries for the Department of Commerce.

Initiated by Snowe, the letter notes that the New England Fisheries Management Council is moving forward in the development of new fishing restrictions in advance of the release of a benchmark stock assessment, peer reviewed by independent scientists, of the 19 species of groundfish caught by boats from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts ports.

Under the timetable, the senators said, the environmental impact statement for modifications of fishing restrictions issued in 2004 would be required by next month, "at least two months before the benchmark assessment is available."

The alleged "cart before the horse" approach of issuing restrictions before knowing the status of the fishery "clearly ... violates the terms of Amendment 13," the letter states. Amendment 13 is the court-ordered management plan issued under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which establishes the federal system of managing and conserving the fisheries.

Balsiger spokesperson Terri Frade told the Gloucester Daily Times, "We received the letter, we're reviewing the letter and we'll be responding."

Frade also said, however, "As far as I can tell, we're on schedule" for the stock assessment and possible issuance of additional fishing restrictions for 2009.

By making new restrictions based on old data before the status of the fishery is updated, the senators said, the federal government was placing the industry in a state of double jeopardy.

The first jeopardy was bad enough, the senators wrote.

"Regulatory mandates have reduced Maine's groundfish fleet to less than half the vessels that were fishing in 1994, and shoreside jobs in fish processing and wholesaling have declined by over 40 percent in the same period," Snowe, Collins and their colleagues from Massachusetts wrote. Snowe, who initiated the letter, is the ranking Republican member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard.

"Between 2000 and 2005," Kennedy and Kerry added about their state's fishery, "the number of active limited access vessels in Massachusetts with groundfish income fell by 30 percent, and the enactment (additional restrictions in 2006) led to an 18 percent loss for Massachusetts groundfish vessels."

They noted that the management council, an appointed body of fisheries officials and stakeholders, which advises the enforcing authority, National Marine Fisheries Service, is now "considering slashing fishermen's days at sea by as much as an additional 70 percent based on insufficient, outdated data."

Ann-Margaret Ferrante, a Gloucester attorney active in fishery issues, said Monday the senators' argument was sound.

"It only makes sense that 2008 regulations be predicated on 2008 data, not outdated information from 2005," she said.



Richard Gaines writes for Gloucester (Mass.) Daily Times. Gaines can be reached at rgaines@gloucestertimes.com

        

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