BOSTON, Mass. — December 4, 2013 — Calling the federal government’s recent over-regulation of the fish stock an “existential threat” to New England’s 400-year-old fishing industry, state Attorney General Martha Coakley Wednesday urged a federal court to stop the new regulations, seeking that step through a motion for summary judgment filed over the AG’s previous lawsuit.
The motion also came as Coakley and state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, D-Gloucester, sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, advocating for the inclusion of $150 million in fisheries disaster funding in the final fiscal 2014 federal budget.
The letter follows advocacy efforts by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others in the Massachusetts congressional delegation, including Rep. John Tierney, to make the funds available to fishermen. Coakley and Ferrante had initially raised the plight of Massachusetts fishermen with Chairwoman Mikulski during a visit by the senator to Boston last year.
“These new regulations are having a large impact and are devastating the fishing communities in our commonwealth,” Coakley said in a prepared statement. “As part of our proud past, we will continue to fight to ensure the fishing industry is part of our vibrant future despite the federal government’s callous disregard for the well-being of Massachusetts fishing families.”