Mass. congressmen urge withholding funds from fisheries until catch limits raised

By Michael J. Bailey, Globe Staff

Calling new regulations an economic disaster for New England fishermen, Massachusetts congressmen are urging the House and the Senate to withhold funds from marine fisheries officials unless they boost catch limits.

For two months, members of the Massachusetts delegation and Governor Deval Patrick have been pushing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Commerce to issue an emergency order to help the industry. The lack of action on the part of the agency is devastating to the industry and frustrating to state leaders, they say.

"Repeatedly, these discussions appear to have led to little more than speeches and broken promises,'' according to a letter from the lawmakers. "Because we feel serious consideration of all available options has not occurred, it is imperative that Congress assert itself in order to protect the livelihood of fishing communities across the country."

The letter, addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, was signed by Democratic Representatives John Tierney of Salem, Barney Frank of Newton, and William Delahunt of Quincy. They were joined by Democratic Senator John F. Kerry and his counterpart, Republican Senator Scott Brown.

The focus of their effort is the government's new way to determine quotas for some waning stocks of fish. In May, the federal government shifted strategies, pushing fishermen to form cooperatives that would share annual quotas for each imperiled species of fish within a sector.

Under this program -- dubbed catch share -- once a group exceeds its limit on a particular kind of fish, all members must cease all fishing.

In their letter, the lawmakers cited research from the Mass. Division of Marine Fisheries and the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth that detailed the deleterious effects of the changes on Bay State fishermen. The research contends the changes made a handful of fishermen richer while hurting the bottom line on the vast majority plying the ocean. It also says the rules had idled two-thirds of the state's fleet chasing groundfish in the first five months of the season and half of the fleet seeking finfish.

The direct cost to the industry is $21 million, the letter says.

In response, the congressmen are asking Pelosi and Reid to withhold fiscal year 2011 funding for implementation of the catch share program until emergency relief is provided to the fishermen.