BassBuddah
06-24-2008, 12:53 PM
State sues feds over fluke fishing regulations (http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/tuesday/longisland/ny-lifish245739733jun24,0,7067144.story)
BY BILL BLEYER | bill.bleyer@newsday.com (bill.bleyer@newsday.com&subject=State%20sues%20feds%20over%20fluke%20fishi ng%20regulations) 10:58 AM EDT, June 24, 2008State officials sued the federal government Monday to overturn regulations for summer flounder they claim have devastated the local fishing industry by allowing anglers in other states to catch more and smaller fish.
The lawsuit seeks to replace federally imposed state-by-state quotas for summer flounder, or fluke, with uniform restrictions along the Atlantic Coast.
Federal officials have ignored evidence that fluke numbers have increased steadily in the last decade and the population has shifted north, according to the suit.
The lawsuit was filed against the Department of Commerce in federal court in Brooklyn by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on behalf of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. It is the first challenge to the federal fluke regulations by any state.
"Everyone believes in protecting the fisheries but this is random and arbitrary and hurts New Yorkers and New York's economy," Cuomo said in an interview. "We just want fair limits." He said Long Island (http://www.newsday.com/topic/travel/long-island-PLTRA000031.topic) charter boat operators and recreational fishermen are at a disadvantage, which drives customers to New Jersey-based boats.
Under federal rules, New Yorkers can keep only four fluke each day and each fish must be at least 20.5 inches long. New Jersey anglers, though, can keep eight fish that are 19 inches long.
New York faces the tougher restrictions because of its large saltwater fishing population, estimated at 500,000 to 750,000. A uniform standard would allow all fishermen to keep fish that are 19 inches long.
"The quota system is based on flawed science and obsolete data," DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said. He added that a uniform, coastwide approach would be "both equitable and more likely to foster the recovery of the species."
But Teri Frady, Northeast spokeswoman for the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (http://www.newsday.com/topic/weather/national-oceanic-atmospheric-administration-ORGOV0000102.topic), contended that "conservation equivalency," the system currently in place, "allows states to tailor recreational measures to meet their own circumstances."
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires rebuilding of the fluke population by 2013. Under the law, for nearly a decade the National Marine Fisheries Service has been setting quotas based on 1998 data.
Last year, the state took the unprecedented action of closing the fluke season early because of concerns that New York would exceed its quota.
Philip Curcio, general counsel of United Boatmen of New York, which represents for-hire fishing craft, said "New York has had the most restrictive summer flounder regulations on the coast, and you're probably looking at at least a 50 to 70 percent loss of business over the last five or six years because of these regulations." He said that as a result about half a dozen party boats on Long Island have gone out of business in the past five years.
SOME REEL NUMBERS
Minimum length per state
New York 20.5 inchesConnecticut 19.5New Jersey 19Maximum number of fish per fisherman
New Jersey 8Connecticut 5New York 4Number of fluke caught by state in 2007, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service
New Jersey 1,327,567New York 710,514Virginia 480,325Rhode Island 232,495North Carolina 184,476Maryland 157,360Delaware 117,734Connecticut 108,528Massachusetts 75,860
BY BILL BLEYER | bill.bleyer@newsday.com (bill.bleyer@newsday.com&subject=State%20sues%20feds%20over%20fluke%20fishi ng%20regulations) 10:58 AM EDT, June 24, 2008State officials sued the federal government Monday to overturn regulations for summer flounder they claim have devastated the local fishing industry by allowing anglers in other states to catch more and smaller fish.
The lawsuit seeks to replace federally imposed state-by-state quotas for summer flounder, or fluke, with uniform restrictions along the Atlantic Coast.
Federal officials have ignored evidence that fluke numbers have increased steadily in the last decade and the population has shifted north, according to the suit.
The lawsuit was filed against the Department of Commerce in federal court in Brooklyn by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on behalf of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. It is the first challenge to the federal fluke regulations by any state.
"Everyone believes in protecting the fisheries but this is random and arbitrary and hurts New Yorkers and New York's economy," Cuomo said in an interview. "We just want fair limits." He said Long Island (http://www.newsday.com/topic/travel/long-island-PLTRA000031.topic) charter boat operators and recreational fishermen are at a disadvantage, which drives customers to New Jersey-based boats.
Under federal rules, New Yorkers can keep only four fluke each day and each fish must be at least 20.5 inches long. New Jersey anglers, though, can keep eight fish that are 19 inches long.
New York faces the tougher restrictions because of its large saltwater fishing population, estimated at 500,000 to 750,000. A uniform standard would allow all fishermen to keep fish that are 19 inches long.
"The quota system is based on flawed science and obsolete data," DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said. He added that a uniform, coastwide approach would be "both equitable and more likely to foster the recovery of the species."
But Teri Frady, Northeast spokeswoman for the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (http://www.newsday.com/topic/weather/national-oceanic-atmospheric-administration-ORGOV0000102.topic), contended that "conservation equivalency," the system currently in place, "allows states to tailor recreational measures to meet their own circumstances."
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires rebuilding of the fluke population by 2013. Under the law, for nearly a decade the National Marine Fisheries Service has been setting quotas based on 1998 data.
Last year, the state took the unprecedented action of closing the fluke season early because of concerns that New York would exceed its quota.
Philip Curcio, general counsel of United Boatmen of New York, which represents for-hire fishing craft, said "New York has had the most restrictive summer flounder regulations on the coast, and you're probably looking at at least a 50 to 70 percent loss of business over the last five or six years because of these regulations." He said that as a result about half a dozen party boats on Long Island have gone out of business in the past five years.
SOME REEL NUMBERS
Minimum length per state
New York 20.5 inchesConnecticut 19.5New Jersey 19Maximum number of fish per fisherman
New Jersey 8Connecticut 5New York 4Number of fluke caught by state in 2007, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service
New Jersey 1,327,567New York 710,514Virginia 480,325Rhode Island 232,495North Carolina 184,476Maryland 157,360Delaware 117,734Connecticut 108,528Massachusetts 75,860