Saving Seafood

Atlantic Fishermen in NCLA Video Explain the Need to Reel in NOAA’s at-Sea Monitor Rule

August 2, 2021 — The following was released by the New Civil Liberties Alliance:

The New Civil Liberties Alliance released a video today outlining why it is unconstitutional to force Atlantic herring fishermen to fund government-mandated monitors at sea. It is “the equivalent of having a cop in your car who’s policing you while you drive, and you have to pay his salary out of your own pocket,” said Meghan Lapp, Fisheries Liaison & General Manager for Seafreeze, Ltd. about the rule being challenged in Relentless Inc., et al. v. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, et al.

The Relentless Inc., Huntress Inc., and Seafreeze Fleet LLC are small businesses of high-capacity freezer trawlers incorporated in Rhode Island and Massachusetts that have commercially fished Atlantic herring as well as Loligo and Illex squids, butterfish, and Atlantic Mackerel for more than thirty years. The rule penalizes NCLA’s clients unfairly by making them pay for herring monitors even when fishing for other catches.

NCLA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, represents these private fishing companies in their lawsuit against the Department of Commerce (DOC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC). The at-sea monitor mandate, issued in 2018, is unlawfully “industry-funded.” These agencies do not have statutory authority from Congress to order additional industry funding for a program that the agencies think is underfunded, but they have issued a rule that threatens the livelihoods of fishermen regardless.

Earlier this week, NCLA presented oral argument before the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. Both sides have moved for summary judgment.

Read the full release here

COVID-19 Observer Coverage Waiver Lifted for Northeast Vessels with Electronic Monitoring

July 13, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Effective today, July 13, a vessel enrolled in an electronic monitoring program may be assigned observer or monitor coverage consistent with its respective program’s requirements. This lifts a temporary exemption that has been in place since August 2020.

In June, NOAA Fisheries and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center announced that vessels were no longer eligible for release from observer or monitor coverage if a fully vaccinated observer or a quarantined/shelter in place observer is available. This exemption was lifted for most vessels July 1, and today’s announcement lifts it for EM vessels.

Read the full release here

Fishermen lose challenge to rule requiring at-sea monitors

June 16, 2021 — A federal judge in Washington D.C. on Tuesday denied the bid of New Jersey-based herring fishermen who sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) last year to block a new regulation that will require them to pay for third-party “at-sea monitors” who will survey by-catch.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that the agency had not acted in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) when it approved in February 2020 the rule that the plaintiffs said could “destroy their iconic way of life” by cutting by 20% their profits from commercially fishing herring along the U.S. Atlantic coast.

About half-a-dozen small fishing vessel operators, including the Loper Bright Enterprise, brought the lawsuit last year.

Ryan Mulvey, an attorney for the plaintiffs with the Cause of Action Institute, an advocacy group favoring limited government, said he was disappointed with the decision. “The federal government has overextended its regulatory power far beyond what Congress authorized,” he said.

Read the full story at Reuters

After months of exemptions and tensions with regulators, New England fishermen must resume taking observers to sea

August 17, 2020 — Commercial fishermen have long had their gripes about the government-trained observers required by regulators to monitor their catch.

When the pandemic began sweeping across the nation in March, federal officials halted their work, which involves long hours at sea, often in close quarters with fishermen. But with many captains and deckhands still hauling in their prey, observers resumed their duties in early May in nearly every major port around the country — except those in the Northeast.

The region’s mighty fleet has since received seven exemptions from observer requirements, which the federal government subsidizes at an annual cost of more than $50 million to prevent overfishing.

Now, with observers resuming their work this weekend in ports from North Carolina to Maine, fishermen and their representatives are urging the agency to halt the program again, saying it could have an adverse impact on an industry that lands about $2 billion worth of seafood a year.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Fishing industry seeks relief from observer coverage

July 21, 2020 — West Coast trawlers and fishing industry leaders looking to minimize the risk of exposure to the coronavirus are asking for an emergency waiver from a requirement to carry human observers.

The National Marine Fisheries Service provided a two-week waiver from observer coverage in the spring. Chris Oliver, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, clarified in a message posted Thursday that waivers remain available on a vessel-by-vessel basis.

According to a spokesman, the federal agency has issued some individual vessel waivers for trips in the past three months — all were for times when observers were not available, not for other reasons, such as a vessel operator’s concerns about the coronavirus.

Industry representatives argue that further steps are needed as the threat of the pandemic continues and case numbers rise.

Read the full story at The Astorian

Fishing monitors not required through May 30; draft rule hearing Thursday

May 20, 2020 — Meanwhile, the New England Fishery Management Council is hosting a webinar public hearing on its draft groundfish monitoring amendment and has extended the public comment deadline to the end of June.

The council, which voted in April to postpone final action on draft Amendment 23 beyond its June meeting, will hold the webinar public hearing Thursday, May 21. One hearing was held May 12. If approved, the council would work with new NOAA to implement the new monitoring rules.

Thursday’s session is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and individuals may register through a link on the council’s website, nefmc.org.

More information on Amendment 23 and proposed changes to monitoring can be found at https://bit.ly/2zN4vcR

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Temporary Waivers for Northeast Fisheries Observer Requirements

March 20, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA Fisheries is temporarily waiving the requirement for vessels with Northeast fishing permits to carry a fishery observer or at-sea monitor. The waiver will be in effect through April 4, and future extensions of this waiver will be evaluated weekly. For details, please read the letter from the Regional Administrator (pdf, 1 page).

Text of the letter below:

Dear Partners and Stakeholders:

As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA Fisheries is temporarily waiving the requirement for vessels with Northeast fishing permits to carry a fishery observer or at-sea monitor. The waiver will be in effect through April 4, and future extensions of this waiver will be evaluated weekly.

This action is consistent with agency authority to grant waivers for observer and at-sea monitoring requirements under certain circumstances. The availability and deployment of observers is becoming increasingly challenging. The action is also consistent with current federal and state health guidance. The health and well-being of fishermen, observers, and supporting staff is not only a human health concern, but also essential to securing our nation’s seafood production.

Through April 4, 2020, NOAA Fisheries will issue waivers for declared and incoming Northeast fishing trips. During this period:

  • All reporting and pre-trip notification call-in requirements remain in place.
  • Waivers will be issued for all current and newly selected fishing trips.
  • Port intercepts (i.e., observers selecting trips for coverage in the ports) will be temporarily suspended.
  • Trips that are currently at sea with an observer onboard are unaffected.
  • Vessels using Electronic Monitoring are unaffected, as this waiver applies to human observers only.

The Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center will evaluate the impacts of waivers on our fisheries and observer programs throughout this period:

  • We will monitor fishing activity in comparison to when observers have been deployed, to track continued compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
  • We will evaluate weekly observer availability, ability to travel, and level of fishing effort and landings.
  • We will monitor for changes in current health and safety guidelines that we expect would increase observer availability.
  • We will also monitor fishing effort and landings, which could be indicators that the temporary waiver of observer requirements could be ended.

Sincerely,

Michael Pentony

Lawsuit over fishing monitors to reach Court of Appeals soon

February 11, 2017 — A New England fishermen’s group suing the federal government over the cost of at-sea monitoring is scheduled to present oral arguments before the federal Court of Appeals in March.

The monitors are workers who collect data that help the government craft fishing regulations. The government shifted the cost of paying for monitors to fishermen last year.

A group led by New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel sued the government over the rule change. The fishermen lost in federal district court and appealed. Attorneys say the arguments are set to take place March 7.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Times

JAN MARGESON: Disburse disaster aid to all active fishermen

September 3, 2015 — A typical small-boat fisherman from Cape Cod — or anywhere in the state for that matter — has more than navigating around the tides and the wind to contend with in today’s complicated regulatory world and in the face of a changing ocean. There’s crew to pay to sustain viable communities, gear and fuel to buy to support a coastal economy, and safety equipment to update to make sure they are prepared in any emergency.

Starting in October, these family fishermen will have to undertake a new added expense: paying for at-sea monitors who count the fish they harvest and those they have to throw back.

Until now, the federal government has paid for the services as part of a new management program it initiated to help bring back declining species of fish, such as our peninsula’s namesake cod. Now, it is turning it into an unfunded mandate, and Massachusetts’ fishermen could go out of business over it.

Profit margins in fishing are not high, and the federal government’s own report found that 59 percent of the state’s groundfishermen would go into the red if they had to pay for onboard monitors.

Read the full opinion piece at the Cape Cod Times

New England fishermen say federal money needed for monitors

August 25, 2015 — Federal fisheries regulators want fishermen to pay to have somebody watch what they catch and what they throw back.

And, while Gov. Charlie Baker told federal officials last week that they should foot the bill, local fishermen are hoping the state will reconsider and use its share of federal disaster money to pay for the observers required on commercial fishing trips.

The extra eyes on deck cost $710 daily, and fishermen say that hits smaller vessels especially hard.

“What small business can afford to be $710 in the hole before they even open their doors?” Chatham fisherman John Our said.

Expenses are already high for fuel, crews, bait and gear, fishermen say. Haddock, though plentiful, are too far offshore for them to catch, and their traditional species of choice, cod, have disappeared from local waters, mired at historically low population levels.

Cape boats now have to travel farther to catch monkfish, or land skates and dogfish from local waters at just a fraction of the price of cod.

A typical skate trip, at 35 cents per pound and grossing $1,100, would be left with less than $400 to split between the boat and crew, said Chatham fisherman Jan Margeson.

“We don’t gross enough money to afford this,” said Margeson, who proposed allocating federal disaster money to fishermen who actually carried observers.

The fleet will pay an estimated $10,000 per vessel annually to cover the cost of the observers, but its fishermen catch very little of the groundfish species that are in trouble, Our said.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times