Expensive Water Rules for Commercial Fishermen
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Social
Temporary Exemptions Sparing Fishermen from Having to Comply with a Clean Water Rule That Many Call Onerous Is Set to End in Decemberin Washington
When commercial fishing vessels unload their hauls on deck, crews usually gut their catch and put it on ice for the trip back to shore.
Then they do something that could land them in trouble under a 6-year-old law: They hose down the decks, sending the bloody mix of guts and scales into the water.
The Clean Boating Act of 2008 requires vessels to test deck-water runoff for contaminants. They also must sample seawater that is circulated into live wells for crabs and lobsters and then discharged back into the ocean, gulf or bay.
The regulation isn't enforced because lawmakers have approved temporary exemptions sparing commercial fishermen from having to comply with a rule that many call onerous and expensive. The current exemption ends in December, and the industry is concerned congressional malaise and partisanship could stall legislation to extend it.
That would leave commercial operators on the hook for an expensive and time-consuming sampling regimen that they say could drive them out of business and reduce the fish available at local markets and restaurants.
In response, Democratic and Republican senators, mostly from coastal states, have sponsored the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act to make the exemption permanent, similar to the one given recreational fishermen several years ago.
Mississippi Republican Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker are among the cosponsors of the bill. It was passed by the Senate Commerce, Space and Technology Committee last month and is now headed to the full Senate for a vote.
A similar measure has passed the House as part of a Coast Guard reauthorization bill.
Environmentalists don't have a problem with making the exemption permanent for fishing boats less than 79 feet long. What they don't like is the larger bill attached to it.
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