August 24, 2012 — This month's decision by a federal judge to criticize the National Marine Fisheries Service over the senseless slaughter of herring by trawlers represents an important, overdue victory for environmentalists and local fishermen alike. The potentially precedent-setting decision finally puts some legal teeth into righting an injustice that has been decimating fish stocks for years.
The ruling found that both the fisheries service and the New England Fishery Management Council failed to follow federal law when they omitted river herring from their 2011 management plan for Atlantic sea herring. Both groups must now amend the plan to include catch limits for river herring. They must also draw up a plan to reduce the amount of river herring that perishes as bycatch, that is, when the fish is inadvertently caught by large trawlers.
River herring play a vital role in the ocean's food chain. They eat plankton, and are then consumed by larger fish, such as cod and tuna. They are not at the bottom of the food chain, but they are a crucial link in it. Given the precarious status of fishing stocks along the East Coast, anything that helps protect that ecosystem is welcome news. With any luck, it is also a harbinger of better regulatory action to come.
The case, brought by a Chatham charter boat captain, a recreational fisherman from Wareham and a Cambridge-based environmental group, reveals the power of individuals to make a difference, even when the opponents are nothing less than state and federal enforcement agencies, and the issue is as large as an entire ecosystem. Together, these three parties, likely with somewhat different agendas, were able to present a compelling argument that we need to do better when it comes to protecting river herring.
The case could have long-term repercussions far beyond this particular species; representatives on both sides of the issue concur that the decision may set a precedent in terms of how the regional and federal regulatory bodies draw up their protection plans. In essence, if a threatened fish is being caught, it needs to be part of the plan.
This sounds like a commonsense approach. The fisheries council and the National Marine Fisheries Service originally hoped to manage the river herring population by working toward limits on how many fish were killed as part of bycatch. That, too, is an important component to keeping the fishery viable, but in and of itself, it is insufficient when it comes to preserving the stocks.
Read the full story in the New Bedford Standard Times