ANNAPOLIS, Md. — October 27, 2013 — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has responded to a lawsuit filed against it on Oct. 18, alleging that menhaden limits were set illegally after not following proper implementation procedure.
DNR is sticking to its original story before the lawsuit was filed — that it has done nothing illegal.
On Monday, Oct. 21, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler’s office filed a response opposing the motion.
The Harvesters Land and Sea Coalition, which filed the lawsuit, is seeking a temporary restraining order, which, if granted, would lift the regulations mandated by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Total Allowable Catch
The coalition is alleging that DNR illegally imposed the bycatch limit on watermen before Maryland’s total allowable catch (TAC), or 5.12 million pounds, was caught.
But, as stated in the response to the lawsuit by Gansler’s office, DNR previously had made it known to the ASMFC, which imposed a 20 percent reduction in total Atlantic Coast harvest of menhaden in December 2012, that the bycatch likely would be implemented before the department was certain the TAC was reached.
According to the response, DNR gave notice on June 21 and 25 that the menhaden fishery would close on June 29 based on projections of when the TAC would be met from previous years’ harvest reports.
This is what DNR also said would happen in its implementation plan submitted to the ASMFC in April, which was approved by the commission in May.
“Maryland will select a conservative closure date because Maryland’s current commercial reporting system includes delays of approximately two months from the time of harvest until data become available to managers. Since this situation cannot be rectified prior to the start of the 2013 menhaden season, we will likely begin limiting the pound net fishery to the 6,000 pound bycatch allowance on June 15, 2013,” DNR’s implementation plan stated.
According to DNR’s response, given the uncertainty of how long menhaden will continue to be available for landing for the remainder of 2013, the department’s approach to the TAC and bycatch limits likely has prevented Maryland from exceeding the quota by significant amounts, thereby putting the state in good standing with the ASMFC and neighboring states.
Between January and when the fishery was closed on June 29, watermen were filing monthly reports for pounds of menhaden landed, which resulted in delays of DNR’s reports. After the bycatch was implemented, watermen began filing electronic reports daily.