East Coast fishermen protest federal catch rules

By Richard Gaines GLOUCESTER, Mass. -- Scores of East Coast fishermen gathered in America's oldest seaport Friday to protest new federal fishing limits.



The demonstration, outside a new federal fisheries building, was peaceful yet purposeful, with speakers and placards railing against efforts to further restrict fishing in U.S. waters.



A 10-foot by 3-foot banner held by two protesters said: "The National Marine Fisheries Service/Destroy fishermen and their communities since 1976." That was the year Congress approved the Magnuson Act and the government began to strictly regulate the decline of certain fish stocks.



Police estimated the crowd at 250, many coming from Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. The event was timed to occur the day before a federal deadline to correct faulty data that will affect a new regulatory scheme.



A letter of solidarity from Elinor Ostrom, winner of this year's Nobel Prize in economic science, was read at the rally.



"I wish that I could join you today as you struggle with an important issue for you and your families and for all of us affected by the fisheries world," said Ostrom's letter.



A statement by rally organizers said they had four goals:

• To demand flexibility in schedules to rebuild fish stocks, and to support efforts in Congress to change unrealistic regulations;



• To demand better management from federal regulators;



• To demand an independent economic analysis of planned regulations; and



• To mitigate anticipated consequences of new policies, including an expected reduction in the number of fishing boats.

"Fifteen years of increasingly severe catch limits on cod, flounder and other groundfish are paying dividends off the New England coast," the statement said. "Although the public has been fed a diet of gloom-and-doom stories about fish, stocks are making great strides. It is time ... management plans reflected this."



The protesters' ire is split between Congressional action three years ago and recent decisions by the New England Fishery Management Council to transform fish into a commodity by creating catch shares distributed to organized groups of fishing boats.



Under pressure from environmental interests, the Congressional reauthorization of the Magnuson Act set rigid deadlines for the recovery of depleted stocks.



"Federal law has set fisheries up to fail in New England and across the nation," the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition, the region's largest industry group, said in a statement. "It's time we all admit that the law is misguided and work together to strike a balance which is good for the fish and good for the fishermen."



Richard Gaines is a reporter for the Gloucester Daily Times. Contact him at rgaines@gloucestertimes.com