Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: Counties Join Commercial Fishermen in Lawsuit

September 27, 2016 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

Several coastal counties have joined with commercial fishermen in litigation against the State of North Carolina regarding last year’s decision by the Marine Fisheries Commission to adopt new regulations on the southern flounder fishery by using the “Supplement” process. Stevenson Weeks, an attorney with Wheatly, Wheatly, Weeks, Lupton & Massie of Beaufort and Todd Roessler attorney with Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton of Raleigh, are representing the plaintiffs. The complaint was filed today in Carteret County Superior Court.

The plaintiffs include the North Carolina Fisheries Association, Inc.; Carteret County Fisherman’s Association, Inc.; County of Carteret; County of Dare; County of Hyde.

Defendants served with the complaint are the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality, Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries and all members of the Marine Fisheries Commission.

The practical effect of the litigation is to stop the closure of the recreational and commercial southern flounder fisheries, scheduled to take effect this fall.

Brent Fulcher, Board Chairman of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, said “Filing a lawsuit is the last resort for us. We testified many times last year before the Marine Fisheries Commission that using the supplement is the wrong approach and should be managed by a full-blown amendment that allows full public participation. Our advice was totally ignored.”

“In my 29 years of involvement with these fisheries issues, this is only the second time that we filed litigation against the Division of Marine Fisheries”, said Jerry Schill, President of the Fisheries Association. “Fishermen must have confidence in the process for management to be successful, but with the Commission and the Division ignoring the law and even their own guidelines, we have no other option left.”

The 30-page complaint alleges the management measures made by the defendants were arbitrary and based on inadequate scientific data using an abbreviated regulatory process and did so in violation of the North Carolina Open Meetings Laws.

NC lawsuit over sea turtles dismissed by federal judge

August 6, 2015 — Judge James C. Dever has dismissed a lawsuit by the N.C. Fisheries Association (NCFA) and Carteret County Fisherman’s Association (CCFA) to challenge how gill-net fishing is regulated in areas where sea turtles are present.

The NCFA and CCFA demanded in the suit, filed on March 6 in federal court in Raleigh, that Incidental Take Permits for sea turtles be removed or all recreational fishing closed while management plans are developed and applied to recreational, hook-and-line fishermen.

Named as defendants of the suit for the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

In dismissing the complaint that was brought by the NCFA and CCFA on behalf of all commercial fishermen in the state, Dever, the chief judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said in a 19-page dismissal order, the plaintiffs lacked jurisdiction to sue various state and federal agencies.

Read the full story from North Carolina Sportsman