August 15, 2017 — A fishermen’s group says it’s still waiting to hear if the federal government responded to a petition it filed with the U.S. Supreme Court about the cost of mandated fishing monitors.
The government shifted the cost of paying for monitors from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fishermen last year, prompting a legal battle.
The deadline for the government to respond was Monday, Aug. 14. It had not done so last week, and is not required to, said Zachary Kurz, a spokesman for the Cause of Action Institutes attorneys, who are representing the fishermen. He added that the Supreme Court doesn’t use e-file, so if the government did respond Monday, it would have been filed by hand and Cause of Action may not know if there was a response until it is served with the pleading via mail.
Attorneys with the Washington, D.C.-based Cause of Action Institute, representing fisherman David Goethel of Hampton, New Hampshire, and Northeast Fishing Sector 13, filed the petition last month with the nation’s highest court. They asked that it take up the case and recognize the need to hear the New England groundfishermen’s case based on its merits.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Times