December 10, 2013 — Rhode Island is looking to help two of its New England coastal neighbors in the lawsuit to force the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to reverse regulations that have resulted in stinging cuts in groundfish catch limits and order the federal agency to better consider the economic impact of its regulations on fishing communities.
Rhode Island filed an amicus brief in U.S. District Court in Boston last week in support of the suit initially filed in May by Massachusetts and joined by New Hampshire in September.
The brief, while setting out material differences between Rhode Island’s fisheries and those of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, supports the view that the regulations will continue to devastate Massachusetts commercial fishermen “and most certainly will ensure that commercial fishing will no longer be the core of the Commonwealth’s economy or communities.”