Groundfish Updates...

[JohnR]

Just in RE: the New England Groundfish rules

http://www.boston.com/news/daily/23/fishing.htm

Judge reverses decision restricting New England fishing

More lenient regulations to be adopted

By Jay Lindsay, Associated Press, 05/23/02

FROM THE ARCHIVES

4/27/02
Judge's decision seen as heavy blow to industry

BOSTON -- A federal judge on Thursday abandoned her order setting new rules for New England's fishing industry, giving fishermen the additional days-at-sea they say they need to survive.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler acknowledged in her ruling that her original order would have "unintended consequences," including "grave economic and social hardship, as well as injustice, to families, to fishing communities, and to surrounding cities and states."

Kessler's ruling Thursday came in response to requests by fishing, government, and environmental groups that she reconsider her April 26 order.

Kessler said a compromise reached by fishermen and environmentalists would be immediately implemented.

Her new order allows fishermen to base the number of days they may fish annually on their strongest recent groundfishing season, rather than on an average they said would put them at a severe disadvantage.

Kessler's initial ruling had been based on the compromise plan, but with key changes that fishermen said meant the end of the region's small-boat fleet. Fishermen and advocates rallied around New England, demanding that Kessler change her order.

She originally had set a maximum of 70 days at sea, with the number for each individual determined by taking the average number of days a vessel fished for groundfish annually between 1996 and 2001, and cutting that by 20 percent.

Fishermen said using the average would devastate them, because many fishermen moved away from groundfish such as cod and haddock as part of government measures to conserve, and had low five-year averages.

At least the rules are at or near the agreement hammered out by the different groups last month. That makes the most sense to me anyway...