New Hampshire Joins Mass. Lawsuit on Groundfish Quota Cuts
by Fishermen’s Voice Staff
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) quota cuts in New England groundfish are predicted to be devastating to the New England fishing industry. They are the latest in decades of regulations and quota cuts that have not met the goals of the Magnuson-Stevens Act Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (MSA).
Fishermen have complained that for as long as federal policies have been instituted under the MSA, NMFS has been misquided in it’s policies. One of the original goals of the MSA in the 1970’s was to get the foreign fleet out of U.S. coastal waters. It did that, but federal policies have failed to conserve fisheries and some state governments are aligning with fishermen to charge NMFS with ignoring other aspects of the MSA, including recognition of the social and economic impacts of regulations.
Dr. Ray Hilborn, a professor at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fisheries Science testified before congress September 11, 2013. Hilborn criticized the National Marine Fisheries service’s focus on overfishing for being a narrow counter productive policy that ignores the broader goal and fundamental intent of the MSA.
The MSA goals are employment-jobs, food, and profitability, said Hilborn in comments following his House testimony. However, in the last fifteen years NMFS has focused almost entirely on overfishing.
According to Hilborn in many regions, and especially in New England, the abundance of several groundfish stocks are high enough to be fished, but are considered overfished by NMFS at the same time. Hilborn suggests that by setting fishing pressure based on the abundance of a particular stock and stopping fishing on it when targeted lower abundance levels are reached would allow the stock to more effectively rebound.
The problem said Hilborn is that “what changes when it is classified as overfished is that the quotas are really cut a lot more in order to meet the 10 year rebuilding timeline.”
“The point”, said Hilborn, “is that so long as we keep the fraction harvested in the target range, the stocks will rebuild, perhaps not in 10 years, but they rebuild and a policy that focuses on harvest rates will be much less disruptive to the fishing industry.
New Hampshire has joined Massachusetts in the lawsuit against the Secretary of Commerce and other U.S. officials which challenges the new catch limits on many types of groundfish in New England. These limits were brought forth in federal management Framework 48 and 50 earlier this year under the Magnuson Stevens Act. The limits will reduce the catch by up to 78%.
The State of Masssachusetts filed a suit earlier this year claiming the new regulations will have a devastating impact on families and small businesses in the fishing industry. These impacts are cautioned against in the MSA and critics charge the NMFS with ignoring that part of the national fisheries management law.
New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan agreed with the Massachusetts claim saying, “The onerous restrictions and reduced catch limits put forth by the federal government could have a dire effect on the economic viability of New Hampshire’s fishermen, placing one of our state’s oldest and most treasured industries at grave risk and undermining an important sector of our economy. Joining this lawsuit will help us stand up for the future of New Hampshire’s fishing industry by fighting back against these severe restrictions.”