Lawmakers seek fishing quota rule changes

BOSTON – New England lawmakers will seek changes in Bush administration proposals to modify the way federal fishing quotas are divided up within the industry.

But some environmental groups expressed support for the administration’s proposals.

Under present rules, dozens of species of seafood from cod to clams are regulated by regional fishery councils, which were established by the federal government in the 1970s to prevent overfishing.

Instead of the limits now assigned to each fisherman, under the Bush administration plan, the councils would grant fishermen permission to catch a certain percentage of the overall quota, which would be set by region and by species.

Initial allotments would depend on how much individual fishermen had caught in the past, but they could then buy and sell the credits to other fishermen.

While the proposal is consistent with the administration’s philosophy of seeking free-market approaches to federal environmental regulation, critics say similar trading plans – notably in New Zealand and Canada – have had the unintended consequence of creating consolidation in the fishing industry, as small fishermen sell their credits to larger corporations.

“We want there still to be fishing villages in 50 years in New England,” U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, told the Boston Sunday Globe.

Along with Reps. Robert Simmons, R-Conn., and William Delahunt, D-Mass., Allen submitted legislation that would give greater protections to small-scale fishermen.

An opponent of the Bush plan, Lee Crockett, director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network, said small operators too often are driven out under regulatory frameworks like the one the administration proposes.

“It has happened in other fisheries, and our concern is that without the proper guidelines in place, [it is] going to happen in more,” said Crockett, whose coalition represents fishing industry and conservation groups.

But David of Environmental Defense said the Bush plan would give fishermen a stake in long-term conservation efforts that they now sometimes lack, because the value of their individual allotments would rise if the stocks are well managed.