Judge zaps groundfish carryover quotas
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg has struck down rules letting New England fishermen carry over unused quotas into the next year while upholding a regional regulator's decision to open new areas off the coast of Massachusetts to commercial fishing.
Courthouse News Service reported that Boasberg’s rulings came in response to challenges from the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation. In Boasberg’s first ruling, the environmental groups lost their challenge to a federal rule that created a process for regulators to give commercial fishermen limited access to certain closed areas in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. Boasberg’s second ruling was a victory for the group, stating that regional regulators violated federal law by allowing fishermen to carry over quota allotments, resulting in catch limits above legal limits set by scientific and statistical committees.
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported fishing industry advocates have said the carry-over rule has helped fishermen absorb steep cuts to groundfish species like cod. The judge said in his decision that the dispute “illustrates the difficult balance that environmental regulators must strike between species conservation and economic priorities.”
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