WASHINGTON —The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) blasted a proposal issued Dec. 15 by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that would close areas to pelagic longline fishing but leave displaced longline vessels in the fleet to fish elsewhere in U.S. waters.

The NMFS plan would close to longlining for tuna, swordfish, and sharks about 99,800 square nautical miles of the U.S. south Atlantic—from Cape Fear, N.C., to Key West, Fla.—and about 96,600 square nautical miles in the western Gulf of Mexico—from the Texas-Mexico border to Grand Isle, La. The south Atlantic closure would be permanent, while the Gulf closure would run from March 1 through Sept. 30. NMFS was forced to issue the proposal as a result of a lawsuit brought by several environmental groups, including by the National Coalition for Marine Conservation.

CCA is supporting pending congressional legislation that would close similar areas to longlining and retire boats from the fleet. The measure is expected to achieve major conservation benefits through a reduction in the bycatch of billfish and other marine species. Coupled with a reduction in the quota for swordfish recently approved by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, marine scientists believe the closed areas and smaller fleet will result in a decrease in the take of small swordfish by up to 52 percent and reductions in the bycatch of white marlin by 13 percent, spearfish by 29 percent, blue marlin by 32 percent, and sailfish by 47 percent.

The CCA-supported legislation is being sponsored in the U.S. Senate by Sens. John B. Breaux, D-La., and Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, and in the U.S. House by Reps. Porter J. Goss, R-Fla., and W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-La., and embodies an agreement reached by CCA, the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), The Billfish Foundation (TBF), and the Blue Water Fishermen’s Association—U.S. longliners. The bills would close areas from the North Carolina-South Carolina border to Key West and from the Texas-Mexico border to Cape San Blas, Fla.—a total of more than 160,000 square nautical miles. It also would retire nearly one-third of the U.S. longline fleet through a program that would buy out longliners’ fishing permits. The NMFS plan does not include a buyout program.

"Without a buyout," says Frederic L. Miller, chairman of CCA’s Government Relations Committee, "longliners in the south Atlantic will simply move to the mid-Atlantic or the eastern Gulf. There will be no reduction in fishing effort and no conservation benefit."

In fact, NMFS states that its proposal will lead to an increase in the bycatch of billfish, turtles, and other marine species in the areas that remain open to longlining. The proposal also would allow longlining for dolphin and wahoo to continue in the south Atlantic. (The CCA-backed bill would stop longlining for all species in the closed areas.)

The NMFS proposal has other flaws, Miller points out. The biggest defect is its inability to meet the legal mandates of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Therefore, says Miller, the NMFS proposal likely will lead to litigation (from affected longliners) and delays in efforts to protect marine resources.