Judge Slams Door on Second Group

Judge Slams Door on Second Grouper Gambit

FORT MYERS, FL – Strike two.

On the heels of his decision to nullify an interim rule closing all grouper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico for November and December, a U.S. District Court judge has flatly denied a request by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to reconsider his decision.

United States District Court Judge John E. Steele ruled earlier this month that NMFS had acted “arbitrarily [and] capriciously” in promulgating an interim rule that would have shut down fishing for 16 species of grouper in the Gulf of Mexico for those two months in order to halt the harvest of red grouper. The judge left no doubt earlier this week that his decision is final after NMFS approached the court with a request to reconsider the decision.

“It is apparent that Judge Steele has a firm grasp on the facts of this case and remains convinced that NMFS’ original action in the red grouper fishery was completely unnecessary and an abuse of authority,” said Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Government Relations Committee Chairman Fred Miller. “We’ve always supported measures to conserve fish species, but obviously this type of action cannot be allowed to stand.”

CCA filed a lawsuit in August challenging the authority of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to close the entire recreational grouper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. The interim rule was initiated when the estimated recreational catch of red grouper jumped from 1.536 million pounds in 2003 to 3.53 million pounds in 2004, an unprecedented increase that was made even more suspect with four major hurricanes hitting Florida in 2004.

In response to the 2004 survey numbers for red grouper, NMFS implemented interim measures reducing the red grouper bag limit to one fish and placing a total closure on the recreational harvest of all grouper species for the months of November and December. A ruling issued by Judge Steele in late October allowed the closure of recreational fishing for only red grouper in November and December, but rejected the closure that applied to all other species of Gulf grouper.

“It is customary for the judge to allow the other parties involved in the lawsuit to oppose the government’s request to reconsider a decision, but Judge Steele elected not to do that in this case,” said David Howton, CCA Florida chairman.. “His decision to deny the request without any opposition should be a clear signal to NMFS that their attempts to circumvent the system will not be tolerated.”