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Federal Court Finds Fisheries Service in Violation of U.S. Environmental Law

Author: Staff
A federal court has found that government plans that regulate fisheries in five of the nation's eight fishery management regions fail to comply with federal environmental law. Ruling in response to a lawsuit filed by American Oceans Campaign (AOC) and other conservation and fishing organizations, U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler concluded on September 13 that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it failed to properly assess fishing impacts on fish habitat and analyze a range of alternatives to protect essential fish habitat in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, New England, Pacific and North Pacific fishery management regions. Judge Kessler also ordered NMFS to conduct the assessments to ensure fish habitat protection.

Stock Option Trading Judge Kessler's ruling stems from a lawsuit filed in May 1999 by the Ocean Law Project of Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund on behalf of American Oceans Campaign (AOC) and eight other conservation and fishing organizations against Secretary of Commerce William Daley, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NMFS. The plaintiffs challenged more than 17 fishery management plans and environmental assessments that regulate fisheries in five regions claiming NMFS failed to properly assess fishing impacts and analyze possible measures to protect essential fish habitat as required by the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA) of 1996 and NEPA.

An environmental group is suing a federal agency to force it to update industrial emission standards, as dictated by law. In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Environment Action Network alleges that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has failed to follow the act by not revising standards for industrial pollution control in a time frame allowed by the law.

Currency Day Trading "It does not appear that NMFS took a 'hard look' at the problem with any of the [environmental assessments]," stated Judge Kessler in her opinion. "There is no substantive discussion of how fishing practices and gear may damage corals, disrupt fish habitat and destroy benthic life that helps support healthy fish populations." Judge Kessler further states that all of the environmental assessments challenged by AOC and other groups "fail to consider the relevant and feasible alternatives, and fail to fully explain the environmental impact of the proposed action and alternatives." As a result, Judge Kessler required NMFS to redo the environmental assessments so they fully comply with NEPA.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has won its first federal fisheries prosecution based exclusively on vessel tracking data gathered by the satellite based Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). U.S. Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge Edwin Bladen permanently revoked of the federal fishing permit of the fishing vessel Independence, owned by Lobsters, Inc., and ordered the company to pay a $250, 000 fine. The December 5 ruling also cost Lawrence Yacubian, the captain of the New Bedford based vessel, his federal operating permit.

Financial Software Trading "We are pleased that the Court is requiring NMFS to fully analyze the environmental impacts of its far-reaching actions, as other courts have now done throughout the country," said Eric Bilsky, Senior Attorney with the Ocean Law Project. "We hope NMFS is getting the message that the environmental effects of fisheries must be taken seriously."

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Online Stock Trading Company "The Sustainable Fisheries Act requires that NMFS not only regulate the number of fish that are caught in U.S. fisheries, but also evaluate how they are caught," said Christopher Zeman, Fisheries Program Counsel for AOC. "Presently, many of the nation's major fisheries rely predominantly on destructive fishing practices, including bottom-trawling and scallop dredging, where fishermen not only catch fish, but also devastate the fish's habitat."

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Forex Day Trading The SFA significantly amended the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to direct fishery managers to take a holistic, ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. As part of this directive, NMFS was required to identify essential fish habitat in fishery management plans and assess and minimize the effects of fishing on fish habitat by no later than October 1998 - two years after passage of the SFA.

forum non convenient or similar theory. This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the United States of America and the State of California, without reference to rules governing choice of laws. Any action relating to this Agreement must be brought in the federal or state courts located in San Francisco, California, and you irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of such courts. In any action for violation of this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be

Financial In Market Paul Parker, Executive Director for the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association (CCCHFA), a plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated, "This ruling should go a long way toward getting NMFS to protect undersea habitats the way it should have the first time around in 1998. We are not looking to put bottom-tending mobile gear fishermen out of business. In fact, in many cases, we are working together in the fisheries management process to protect rocky bottom habitats that cod and other groundfish need for food and shelter."

Stock Trading System Zeke Grader, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA), also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated, "PCFFA has long been a leader in bringing to light the importance of protecting essential fish habitat. We know from our experience with the recent West Coast groundfish fishery collapse that fish populations are only as healthy as the habitats that support them. A comprehensive assessment of the impacts of fishing on ocean habitats is needed if we are to successfully rebuild our depleted groundfish populations and create a truly sustainable fishery."

Day Trading Stock Tip Plaintiffs challenging the government's actions also include the Center for Marine Conservation, Florida Wildlife Federation, Institute for Fisheries Resources, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council and Reefkeeper International.

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