BOSTON — November 28, 2012 — A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected claims by New England’s two largest fishing ports that federal regulators improperly enacted fishing rules that they say are wiping out local fleets.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision upheld a 2011 lower court ruling on a suit brought by the ports of New Bedford and Gloucester, as well as fishermen and fishing groups.
The plaintiffs argued the new rules were installed in 2010 without required safeguards, including a two-thirds referendum by fishermen that could have killed the changes before they were enacted. They asked the appeals court to order the lower court to implement the safeguards, alleging that without them, the industry’s smaller fishing businesses would be squeezed out.
But the three judge panel noted that, rather than destroying smaller business, many believe the new rules provide better protection. And it said federal regulators installed the law properly. ‘‘The Secretary (of Commerce's) judgments here were derived from the record, rational, and not based on any error of law,’’ the court wrote.
The old fishing management system tried to prevent overfishing mainly by limiting the number of days fishermen could go to sea. The new system allots portions of the catch for each species, such as cod and flounder, to individual fishermen. The fishermen then combine and manage those allotments in groups called sectors.
The ports — with support from U.S. Reps. Barney Frank and John Tierney — alleged that, under federal law, the change should have been subjected to a vote that never occurred. They said that because individual catch shares can be transferred among fishermen, the new system fosters broad industry consolidation, as larger fishing interests buy out fishermen whose catch shares are too paltry to support their business.
New Bedford Mayor Jonathan Mitchell expressed disappointment and said the city will consider whether to appeal.
‘‘The general points we were trying to establish through the lawsuit will continue to be a goal for us here in New Bedford. That goal was to ensure that fisheries’ regulations are fair and take into consideration the interests of the fishing families and the communities they live in,’’ Mitchell said.
Read the full Associated Press story by Jay Lindsay in the Boston Globe