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12-10-2016, 12:08 PM
East Coast fishermen file appeal over cost of government-required 'at-sea monitors'
By Cristina Corbin Published December 09, 201
SEABROOK, N.H. – David Goethel built his life off the profits of cod, trolling the waters of New England for 30 years netting the region's once-abundant signature fish.
"My slice of the American Dream was paid for from fishing," Goethel said from behind the wheel of his 44-foot fishing trawler on a windy Friday afternoon in December. "Cape Cod house, two cars, four college educations – it all came out of the fish hole in this boat."
But a controversial federal mandate is threatening to put him out of business, he claims.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, requires groundfishermen -- those who catch cod, haddock and other common bottom-dwelling species -- to carry on board "at-sea monitors." The observers, hired by three for-profit companies, are third-party workers whose task it is to observe fishermen's compliance with federal regulations and ensure annual quotas are not exceeded.
The dispute lies in the cost of the monitors and who should pay for them: Fishermen are billed on average $700 a day when a regulator is present.
NOAA, meanwhile, says monitors were placed on fishing boats like Goethel's only 14 percent of the time in 2016 -- and claims the fishing industry supported this system of regulation in 2010 when a vote went before the New England Fishery Management Council, an advisory board to NOAA that sets the rules.
"At sea monitors were originally supported by the sectors when we went from a days-at-sea form of management to a quota based form of management in 2010," said John Bullard, the regional administrator for NOAA's Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.
Goethel and other ground fishermen are suing the U.S. Department of Commerce, seeking to avoid paying the cost for the government-trained monitors. While many factors have led to an economically struggling fish industry in the Northeast, Goethel described monitor costs as "the final financial blow" to his business.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/12/09/east-coast-fishermen-file-appeal-over-cost-government-required-at-sea-monitors.html
By Cristina Corbin Published December 09, 201
SEABROOK, N.H. – David Goethel built his life off the profits of cod, trolling the waters of New England for 30 years netting the region's once-abundant signature fish.
"My slice of the American Dream was paid for from fishing," Goethel said from behind the wheel of his 44-foot fishing trawler on a windy Friday afternoon in December. "Cape Cod house, two cars, four college educations – it all came out of the fish hole in this boat."
But a controversial federal mandate is threatening to put him out of business, he claims.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, requires groundfishermen -- those who catch cod, haddock and other common bottom-dwelling species -- to carry on board "at-sea monitors." The observers, hired by three for-profit companies, are third-party workers whose task it is to observe fishermen's compliance with federal regulations and ensure annual quotas are not exceeded.
The dispute lies in the cost of the monitors and who should pay for them: Fishermen are billed on average $700 a day when a regulator is present.
NOAA, meanwhile, says monitors were placed on fishing boats like Goethel's only 14 percent of the time in 2016 -- and claims the fishing industry supported this system of regulation in 2010 when a vote went before the New England Fishery Management Council, an advisory board to NOAA that sets the rules.
"At sea monitors were originally supported by the sectors when we went from a days-at-sea form of management to a quota based form of management in 2010," said John Bullard, the regional administrator for NOAA's Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.
Goethel and other ground fishermen are suing the U.S. Department of Commerce, seeking to avoid paying the cost for the government-trained monitors. While many factors have led to an economically struggling fish industry in the Northeast, Goethel described monitor costs as "the final financial blow" to his business.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/12/09/east-coast-fishermen-file-appeal-over-cost-government-required-at-sea-monitors.html