WASHINGTON – New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have asked for reconsideration of a court ruling that fishermen say will devastate their industry.

The states, Portland, Maine, and New Bedford, Mass., along with the Conservation Law Foundation, the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, the Associated Fisheries of Maine and the Trawlers Survival Fund filed the motion Thursday.

The group said it favors a plan filed in federal court in April by environmentalists, fishermen and federal regulators.

New England senators also asked the Bush administration and the Department of Justice to appeal the court decision imposing what many consider the most extensive restrictions ever placed on the New England fishing industry.

“We are writing to you out of great concern for the crisis facing New England groundfish fishermen, and to urge your administration to file an appeal if the court does not respond favorably to our state’s motion to reconsider the decision,” the delegation’s letter said.

“Preliminary analysis suggests that the new regulations flowing from the court’s decision will have a devastating effect on our fishing communities and on related industries.

“The reduction in the number of days that fisherman will be permitted to fish will cause many fishermen to be unable to pay their mortgages and support their families. Hundreds of fishermen will lose their ability to fish altogether, which will have a

dire impact on the broader

economy in these areas.”

The new rules, which have been argued for years, are designed to stop overfishing and to help replenish the fish stock.

A spokesman for Stephen Ouellette, the lawyer representing the Northeast Seafood Coalition, said Monday he would file a motion for reconsideration this week on behalf of fishermen from Maine to New York, including the Gloucester Fishing Commission and New Hampshire Commercial Fisherman.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ordered drastic reductions in the number of days fisherman are allowed to fish two weeks ago and closed areas of sea to stop overfishing in the Gulf of Maine, which extends from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia.

It went beyond a negotiated settlement reached by fishermen and environmental groups.