U.S. District Court Judge Edward Harrington on Jan. 26 temporarily suspended the set of rules known in the industry as “Framework 42” for 60 days, saying regulators didn’t do enough analysis before issuing the rules. After the judgment federal fisheries regulators plea the court to reconsider his decision to suspend onerous rules that were put in place in the fall of 2006 on New England commercial fishermen.
Massachusetts and New Hampshire officials have filed the lawsuit which alleged that Framework 42 unfairly penalized commercial fishermen from the two states by halving the days at sea per year for fishermen in inshore waters off the states’ coasts, limiting many to only 24 a year.
Patricia Kurkul, regional administrator at the National Marine Fisheries Service, argued that important conservation efforts would be jeopardized if Framework 42 is suspended. He added that the suspension could harm the fishing industry by threatening some of the aspects of Framework 42 that actually had benefited fishermen – such as a renewal of their ability to lease permits for days at sea from other fishermen who aren’t using them.
Scituate fisherman Frank Mirarchi agrees with Kurkul on that last point saying that he has been frustrated by the lack of direction that commercial fishermen have received from Kurkul’s agency following Harrington’s decision. Mirarchi said the battle in court could have limited meaning because Framework 42 is supposed to expire at the end of April. It is said that the National Marine Fisheries Service has already crafted a set of interim rules that is significantly more stringent than Framework 42 that would take effect in May for a 12-month period.
