State Files Suit Over Commercial Fluke Quota

EAST HAMPTON, NY — The battle heated up this week in New York State over what Governor Andrew Cuomo has called an unfair fluke quote allocated to commercial fishermen and women.

Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia James announced Monday that New York has initiated a lawsuit against the federal government challenging quota for fluke, or summer flounder.

New York, Cuomo said, is seeking a revised allocation to give New York's commercial fishermen and women an "equitable share based on current data"; the state, he said, commenced the litigation in response to the adoption of federal regulations on Dec. 17, which established state allocations for the 2019 fishing year that he said were based on 40-year-old fisheries data.

"New York's commercial fishing industry is a critical economic driver that for decades has been held back by outdated federal restrictions," Cuomo said. "After countless attempts to work with the federal government to adjust the quota, New York is taking action and demanding fair treatment of the hardworking men and women of this industry. The message is loud and clear: we will fight this unfair quota until New York's access to summer flounder is consistent with national standards."

"The federal government's reliance on inaccurate and outdated data to set limits on commercial fluke fishing in New York is a direct threat to our state's fishing industry," said James. "This suit asks that the federal government use the best available science to allocate fluke fishing quotas, and to ensure that New York's fishermen and women are no longer denied their fair share of the permitted catch"

Before filing the lawsuit, Cuomo said New York made a number of requests to federal agencies to correct the "longstanding and unfair" allocations.

In March, 2018, the State filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, demanding that commercial fluke allocations be revised to provide New York's fishing industry with equitable access.

Scientific studies have shown that the distribution of summer flounder and the summer flounder fishery have shifted north toward New York waters since federal allocations were established, a release from Cuomo's office pointed out.

"The current federal fluke allocations were set in 1993, based on data from the 1980s, when the fluke population had been fished to very low levels. Since then, the population has recovered; larger, older fish are more common, and these bigger fish tend to be found closer to New York. In addition, fluke may be found further north due to rising water temperatures associated with climate change," the release said.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that fishery conservation and management measures adopted by the federal government be consistent with 10 national standards; state officials believes that that the quota assigned to New York is inconsistent with five of the standards, including National Standard 2, which requires that the measures be based upon the best scientific information available, and National Standard 4, which requires that such measures are fair and equitable in assigning fishing privileges, Cuomo said.

Prior to the March 2018 petition, New York State was involved in the amendment process to the fluke fishery management plan through the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; ongoing since 2014, the process had "yet to result in equity for New York or consistency of the fishery's management with best-available science," Cuomo said.

The governor said he believed that despite repeated efforts to suggest alternatives that would significantly increase New York's share of the commercial quota for fluke, the state has been "thwarted" by other voting members representing the interests of other states.

State-by-state allocations for commercial fluke were set in the early 1990s using incomplete landings data from 1980 through 1989, the release said.

"At that time, New York's allocation was set at 7.6% of the coast-wide quota, while neighboring states were allocated up to 15.7% for Rhode Island, and 16.7% for New Jersey. Virginia and North Carolina were allocated 21.3% and 27.4%," Cuomo said.

New York's commercial fishermen and women and seafood dealers "have suffered under this low allocation since the 1990s, resulting in closures and daily trip limits of 50 pounds in 2017 and 2018 for most of the year," the release said.

On the East End, New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele applauded the news: "I have long opposed the inadequate quota system that has stunted the growth of New York's commercial fishing industry by unfairly discriminating against New York fishermen to the benefit of other states, and I am pleased with the decision of the Governor, Attorney General, and involved state agencies to stand up to the federal government on behalf of New York's fishermen," he said.

Thiele echoed the belief that state fishing quotas created by the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service are based on "old, incomplete and faulty information and data. As a result, New York's fishing quotas for several fish species are much lower than neighboring states, discriminating against New York fisherman. This discriminatory system has resulted in unwarranted economic harm and job losses, especially on Long Island, which is home to New York's biggest fishing ports."

Thiele said he implored the federal government to "correct this injustice that has plagued the New York State commercial fishing industry for far too long."

A request for comment to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council was not immediately returned.

Patch file photo.