BOSTON, MA (February 4, 2009) – Federal fisheries regulators have urged a federal judge to reconsider his decision last week to suspend onerous rules that were put in place in the fall of 2006 on New England commercial fishermen.
U.S. District Court Judge Edward Harrington on Jan. 26 temporarily suspended the set of rules known in the industry as “Framework 42” for 60 days, saying regulators didn’t do enough analysis before issuing the rules.
Harrington was ruling on a lawsuit that had been filed by Massachusetts and New Hampshire officials. The suit alleged that Framework 42 unfairly penalized commercial fishermen from the two states by halving the days at sea per year for fishermen in inshore waters off the states’ coasts, limiting many to only 24 a year.
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