WASHINGTON — November 1, 2013 — A lawsuit concerning the U.S. government's oversight of the Northeast fishing industry need not play out in Massachusetts, a federal judge ruled.
A 2012 National Marine Fisheries Service rule deploys onboard observers to monitor fishing of Northeast groundfish on 17 percent to 25 percent of fishing trips, but Oceana claimed in a federal complaint that those numbers are not good enough.
"Although the Fisheries Service intends to deploy onboard observers on 17 to 25 percent of all fishing trips in the groundfish fishery, the Fisheries Service failed to demonstrate why, in light of its own reports calling for high or even 100 percent coverage in other similar fisheries, monitoring of only 17 to 25 percent of fishing activity will be sufficient to accurately monitor the catch and adequately enforce catch limits in this fishery," the environmental group claimed.
It named the secretary of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Marine Fisheries Service as defendants.
Groundfish live on or near the bottom of the waters they inhabit.
The Northeast Multispecies Fishery covers 20 stocks of groundfish off the New England and the Mid-Atlantic coasts, including Atlantic halibut, cod, Pollock, haddock, white hake, redfish, ocean pout, Atlantic wolfish, yellowtail, windowpane and witch flounder.
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