CONTACT:  Teri Frady               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
          Scott Smullen            2/5/97

JUDGE FINDS FOR GROUNDFISH RECOVERY PLAN; REJECTS MAINE FISHING ASSOCIATION LAWSUIT

Portland, Maine -- A federal district court judge has ruled that the recovery plan for Northeast groundfish is "rational, though controversial," laying to rest a long-standing lawsuit brought against the plan by Maine fishing interests.

"The stakes were high in this case as many of our standard procedures were being questioned, but we were confident that the agency had moved conscientiously and within the law," says Andy Rosenberg, Northeast regional administrator for NMFS. Rosenberg was among those named as defendants in the suit since the fisheries service has primary responsibility for fishery management in federal waters.

Judge D. Brock Hornby ruled in favor of the Secretary of Commerce, the overseer of NMFS programs, on all issues outlined in the suit brought by Associated Fisheries of Maine (AFM), an organization of fishermen. The judge concluded that although the plan's measures will significantly affect the fishing industry and fishing communities, it was developed in accordance with the law and within the agency's mandate to build sustainable fisheries.

Judge Hornby noted in his ruling that the agency is required to manage a fishery for its optimum yield. He reasoned that "it is appropriate, therefore, for the Secretary to be conservative in dealing with the issue of conservation and, in the face of uncertainty, to take the more strenuous measures--even though they may unfortunately have a short term drastic negative effect on the fishing industry."

"A plan that didn't significantly reduce groundfish catches might well have produced pain with no gain," says Rosenberg. "The judge's reasoning validates the long process and difficult decision-making that was required of the New England Fishery Management Council, the fishing industry, the environmental community, and the agency in order to get a plan in place that had a high probability of success."

The plan is now known as Amendment 7 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. It was contested on numerous grounds by AFM, which originally filed the suit in 1994 in an attempt to block an earlier amendment to the plan implemented that May.

Associated Fisheries of Maine claimed that the plan violated various provisions of four federal acts and two executive orders, and that the National Marine Fisheries Service did not appropriately evaluate either the status of the resource and fishery, or how they would be affected by the plan's measures.

The judge based his ruling on examination of an extensive public record of decision-making in development of the groundfish plan, as well as arguments by attorneys and explanations of scientific and economic data underlying the plan measures presented by experts for each side. The ruling was issued on Monday, Feb. 3.

Fishery management plans are developed by regional councils composed of fishing industry representatives and state and federal officials. The National Marine Fisheries Service works with the councils to develop plans which are then approved and implemented by the Department of Commerce.

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