Fishermen demand changes to fishery law to save jobs, communities

Fishermen rally against federal catch limits

WASHINGTON — Fishermen and charter boat captains from Maine to Louisiana rallied outside the Capitol Wednesday to demand changes to federal fishing limits they say are putting them out of business.

Participants in the “United We Fish” rally want to loosen federal catch restrictions imposed to protect vulnerable fish stocks.

Bryan Lowery, who fishes for scallops near Ocean City, Md., said the rules are particularly frustrating now because scallops are so plentiful. Yet instead of his usual 100 fishing trips, Lowery said he expects to take just nine this year.

“They’ve just put us out of business,” Lowery said, referring to the National Marine Fisheries Service, which enforces the fisheries law.

Similar complaints came from cod fishermen from off the Massachusetts coast and those who fish for red snapper in the Carolinas. In Gloucester, Mass., “you can walk on the cod,” said Mayor Carolyn Kirk, one of the speakers at the lunchtime rally, which drew at least 2,000 people.

“This is all about families. This is all about jobs. This is all about all of us trying to survive,” said Bob Zales of Panama City, Fla., a rally organizer.

Jim Hutchinson Jr. of the Recreational Fishing Alliance said the law sets unrealistic recovery goals based on flawed science, then imposes harsh cuts on fishermen when those goals aren’t met.

A federal official defended the law, saying it imposes science-based, annual catch limits to protect vulnerable fish.

“Ending overfishing is the first step to allowing a fish stock population to rebuild to a level where the stock can be fished sustainably for the long term,” said Eric Schwaab, assistant administrator for fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In practice, that means closing or curtailing any fishery where the science dictates that long-term supplies could be depleted, Schwaab said.

Schwaab said he recognizes the short-term economic hardship, but he said sacrifices made now by commercial and recreational fishers should result in significant long-term benefits to fishing communities and ocean ecosystems.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said federal bureaucrats need to recognize the impact of their decisions on working families.

“We need to start caring as much about our fishermen as our fish,” said Schumer, who said he has been a fishing enthusiast since his uncle took him fishing for blues and porgies in Sheepshead Bay.

Schumer and Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., have introduced bills to relax a provision in the law setting a strict 10-year goal of replenishing fish stocks.

Environmental groups support catch limits but say the government should allow anglers greater flexibility.