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Longliners
ask judge to
rethink ruling
They say the 'disastrous'
Some hail fishing ban By Helen Altonn
order has far more impact
than the plaintiffs sought
and Peter Wagner
Star-BulletinThe Hawaii Longline Association has asked U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra to reconsider a decision to protect sea turtles which it feels will destroy the longline fishing industry.
"The association strongly believes that the judge did not intend to cause the degree of disruption that the order caused," said Jim Cook, administrator of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.
He said the "motion to reconsider is one in which we're simply going over points in the case and asking him if this is what he really meant.
"This is a decision that has a huge effect on a lot of people's lives," Cook said.
He said he was in his office at Pacific Ocean Producers this morning because of his employees. "I have people crying at their desk, all wondering if they're going to lose their jobs."
Cook added that Ezra's decision "has far more effect than even the plaintiffs asked for in this case."
Sean Martin, Hawaii Longliners Association president, said the association is asking the judge "to consider whether there's any room to modify the ruling to better suit the issue of the turtle, as well as the plight of the Hawaiian longline fishermen."
He said the association believes the decision is heavily weighted toward the turtle. "We're not quite sure he took into account the economic impact it's going to have on thousands of families that make their living off the longline fishing industry.
"The longline industry felt we had no choice but to ask for reconsideration," Martin added. "The ruling is so disastrous to the industry, we have to explore any and all opportunities to salvage the industry."
Martin said yesterday that a $7 million emergency appropriation awaiting President Clinton's signature will help, "but it certainly doesn't relieve us of the problem we have."
U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye on Thursday announced that House and Senate conferees approved a $7 million appropriation to help the National Marine Fisheries Service complete an environmental impact statement and put observers on all 115 longline boats in the Hawaii fleet.
While the availability of observers -- required under Ezra's ruling -- will ease one concern, the overriding prospect of a closed fishery preoccupies most fishermen, including Martin.
Ezra's ruling, effective July 23, will close 6.5 million square miles of ocean surrounding Hawaii to all but a relative few outings for longliners. The ruling allows 636 "sets," or fishing days, in the regulated areas, an allocation that could support just four longliners year round, Martin said.
Martin, part-owner of a fleet of five longliners and an outfitting company called Pacific Ocean Producers, is among 115 longliners operating under permit in Hawaii's fishing grounds.
Longliners since December have been operating on the fringes of a 1.5 million-square-mile area closed by Ezra in an earlier injunction meant to protect endangered sea turtles while the federal fisheries agency works on an environmental impact study. The restriction has raised operating costs and lowered profits but allowed the fleet to continue, Martin said. The new restrictions, however, would all but dry up the state's $50 million longline industry, he said.
The $7 million appropriation, according to Inouye's office, could be made available to the fisheries agency as early as next week.
He said the burden of a ruling by a federal judge should fall on the National Marine Fisheries Service, not the longline fishing industry.
Inouye called on the Fisheries Service to finish the environmental report to assess the longline industry and its effect on endangered turtles.
Some hail fishing
By Steve Murray
ban, say waste
is ‘not pono’
Star-BulletinA charter boat owner and former and current advisory board members to the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council gathered at Aloha Tower yesterday to show their support for a longline fishing ban.
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund attorney Paul Achitoff said he brought the people together because "there are parts of the story that haven't been getting out."
Charles K. Maxwell, a member of the fisheries council's native rights panel, said Hawaii's fisheries have been depleted by longline fishing.
"It's very insulting as a native Hawaiian to see all of this wastefulness that's happening in the ocean just for the sake of money," Maxwell said. "It's not pono."
Fisherman William Aila said he felt U.S. District Judge David Ezra was correct in his decision. "He based his decision on the law and not emotions," he said. Aila also said local small commercial fishermen could provide enough ahi for local consumption. "We probably would not be able to provide all the ahi that is sent to Japan and the West Coast," he said.
Mike House, charter boat owner and industry promoter, said: "Hawaii is a tourist destination. As a marketing promoter for the charter industry in Hawaii, it is very, very difficult for us sell a product when the public perception around the world is that Hawaii has no conservation."
Although Achitoff is seen as the bad guy by many longliners, he said he is sorry that fishermen are being hurt. "Fisherman work very hard for what they get, and I feel bad that they must suffer hardships before a solution is found," he said.
