Ruling upsets fishermen
 
 
March 22, 2004

By John DeSantis, Senior Staff Writer
 
john.desantis@houmatoday.com or 985-850-1151 
 
The Houma Courier
 
3030 Barrow St.
 
Houma, Louisiana 70360
 
To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@houmatoday.com

Houma, Louisiana - A federal appeals court’s decision to strike down a lawsuit brought by a fisherman’s organization seeking a more equitable voice for commercial interests on the panel that recommends U.S. fishing policies has drawn mixed local reaction from the commercial sector.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by the Delta Commercial Fisheries Association.
 
The group contended the U.S. Department of Commerce should put more commercial fishermen on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.

The [Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management] Council makes policy recommendations to the National Marine Fisheries Service on protection of resources. Rules concerning turtle protection, quotas on red snapper and other fish as well as pending rules regarding bycatch in shrimp trawls all fall under the Gulf council’s mission

It is one of eight fisheries councils across the country established under the 1976 Fisheries and Conservation Act, better known as the Magnuson Act http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/magact/.
 
The Gulf council has 17 voting members, including 11 who are appointed by the governors of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
 
Florida gets three appointees while the other states get two.

The suit was tossed out of court at the trial level April 23 by U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle. He ruled it was not the federal courts’ place to interfere in how governors and the U.S. Department of Commerce secretary appoint members to the council. Fishermen appealed.

The 5th Circuit agreed with the earlier judge’s ruling.

But some local fishermen who travel waters covered under the federal rules say there are many instances in which federal courts have overruled decisions of governors and various government agencies and do not comprehend the logic involved with this decision.

"So anybody can do as they wish? There are no controls, there is no accountability, that is what the court said," offered Kimberly Chauvin, whose husband David is currently trawling federal waters south of Louisiana on their 73-foot vessel, the Mariah Jade.

Robert J. Samanie III, manager of Lafitte Frozen Foods in Dulac, which processes shrimp, said he is also disappointed by the ruling.

Federal officials, Samanie said, should react proactively when governors give them lists of candidates for the Gulf council that are not balanced and ask for more equitable distribution of candidates, whether or not a court has ordered them to do so.

"If National Marine Fisheries wanted to do the right thing, they should set up qualifying standards for people who are supposed to represent the commercial industry," Samanie said.

Louisiana has had its own balance issues on the state board that regulates fishing, the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission.

Former Governor Mike Foster was often criticized for failing to give the commercial sector a voice on that board.

But fishermen and processors express faith that Governor Kathleen Blanco will create a more balanced commission and that any nominations she makes for the federal Gulf council will be more balanced as well.

"I trust that our new governor will do the right thing," said Samanie, who is on the short list of candidates for an open seat on the state commission. Blanco has not yet made a decision on that matter.

Pete Gerica, a commercial fisherman who is president of the Lake Pontchartrain Fisherman’s Association and has followed the suit closely, said new appointments to the Gulf council may make a difference in how regulatory matters are discussed and decided.

Gerica praised the appointment of Walter Thomassie of Houma to the Gulf council. Thomasie runs a seafood processing plant in Leeville.

"With Walter and some of the other changes that will come, you have fresh people in there," Gerica said. "Walter has worked boats, built boats and has a plant. They need to get people with experience like that so they can talk about it."

In the past, some appointments to what the law said should be commercial seats were occupied by people who were not engaged in commercial operations.

"I am disappointed anytime the commercial industry does not have a voice," said Dulac processor Jeff Scott. "When you have people making laws who do not know about your industry and how it works, how can they rule? This industry, you can't get a book and read about it. There are no written books about this industry and how it works."

National Marine Fisheries Service officials have said that they can only work with nominees governors give them and that their hands are tied when it comes to ensuring balance on the council.