Court ruling keeps scallop fishery open

WASHINGTON – In a victory for fishermen, a federal judge in Washington has ruled that scallopers may continue to tow their dredges in a mid-Atlantic fishery where the New Bedford fleet lands approximately 80 percent of its catch.

In July, the environmental group Oceana asked U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle to temporarily close the fishery until the National Marine Fisheries Service acted to protect endangered sea turtles that migrate through the area during the spring and fall.

Loggerhead, leatherback, Kemp’s ridley and green sea turtles have been caught and killed by heavy scallop dredges in the mid-Atlantic zone that stretches from Long Island, N.Y., to Cape Hatteras, N.C.

Oceana called for the fisheries service to re-evaluate how the commercial scallop fishing industry affects sea turtles and to increase the number of scientific observers who board vessels to collect catch data.

The group also filed a federal lawsuit against the service in May, claiming it failed to protect threatened and endangered sea turtles as ordered in Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.

On Wednesday, Huvelle denied Oceana’s motion.

Charlie Quinn, captain and owner of the scallop trawler Celtic, told the Standard-Times of New Bedford on Thursday he is relieved and happy with the ruling.

“I think it is good. … It’s always a threat when they bring a lawsuit,” said Quinn. “We don’t want to catch turtles,” he said. “It does us no good to catch them.”