Ten per cent of NMFS staff deal with lawsuits
UNITED STATES
Thursday, June 13, 2002, 08:00 (GMT + 9)

National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency that manages fish stocks in US waters, has more than 100 lawsuits currently pending against it.

That's more than six times the number the agency had pending just six years ago. In the most recent case in the news, the agency lost to environmental groups that claimed NMFS failed to protect New England groundfish stocks.

NMFS officials admit the agency now dedicates 10 per cent of its 2,500 staff members to the lawsuits. In 1996, the agency faced around 16 outstanding cases. Now there are 104, mainly filed by environmentalists or fishermen seeking changes in fishery management.

Some lawmakers and other observers say the lawsuits now dictate how fisheries are managed in the US and the agency must use its limited resources on fighting lawsuits rather than doing research and enforcement.

''It's also an expensive way to regulate the fisheries if the millions of dollars are spent on [cases] instead of investing in research to better conserve stocks,'' US Senator Susan Collins of Maine told the Boston Globe.

Another change worrying regulators is that NMFS now loses more lawsuits than it wins. Before 1997, the agency won 83 per cent of the cases brought against it, but by 1998, NMFS began losing more than it won - 23 losses and 19 wins between 1998 and 2001. These figures are part of an independent draft report being prepared for Congress by the National Academy of Public Administration. NMFS says its own figures show the agency is actually ahead on wins.

NMFS head William Hogarth denies suggestions the litigation now dictates the agency's management techniques, but says lawsuits circumvent the public process that should dominate the rulemaking. Critics of the lawsuits say judges lack the scientific and technical knowledge to make proper decisions on complicated fisheries issues.

Environmentalists began paying attention to ocean issues in 1996, when the 1976 Magnuson Act that governs fisheries was tightened up to include standards for overfishing, habitat protection and fishing community issues.

Even before the law changed, in 1991, Conservation Law Foundation sued NMFS for failing to protect New England groundfish stocks. That suit was settled out of court and resulted in a new management plan, but CLF was part of the suit filed two years ago and decided against NMFS last December, again for failing to protect groundfish stocks. That suit resulted in a tough mediated settlement that has cut fishing days and closed groundfishing areas for New England fishermen.

Eight lawsuits were filed in 1998, another 23 in 1999 and 31 in 2000. New filings are now on the decline. Some observers say other federal agencies deal with high litigation regularly and NMFS needs to develop an efficient approach to handle such situations.