The Coast Guard has intercepted and charged a commercial boat with illegally fishing for scallops in federal waters using only a permit written by the Maine-based Passamaquoddy Tribe.
The action, carried out Wednesday through a joint operation with the state, according to a Coast Guard announcement, could set the stage for a legal battle regarding tribal and federal jurisdictions over fishing rights. The issue is also flaring at the start of a new legal regimen for federal regulation of the 200-mile exclusive economic zone established in 1976 with the enactment of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
The federal government, since May 1, has instituted a catch share system in which each federal permit holder is granted the right to catch a specified volume of each species.
Should the Passamaquoddy Tribe secure rights to a portion of the total allowable catch, the value of federal permits would likely be reduced accordingly.
The interception took place off Nantucket on Wednesday, according to the announcement by the Coast Guard, while the federal government was said to be exploring informal claims by tribe members of inherent fishing rights to federal waters.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has rejected the tribe's initial claim.
But, according to a statement issued to federal permit holders on Wednesday, the day of the interception of the tribal boat, NOAA has been "in discussions" with the tribe "to better understand" the basis of the claims.
The Coast Guard did not identify the sanctioned boat, or the individuals charged. But the Coast Guard said, "The vessel was returning from a fishing trip for Atlantic sea scallops and the master of the vessel admitted that he did not have a federal fisheries permit for ... scallops issued to the vessel.
"The vessel was issued two violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Act," the Coast Guard announcement indicated. One citation was for fishing in federal waters without a federal permit; the second was for fishing in federal waters without an operational VMS or vessel monitoring system unit.
"The master produced a document purporting to provide authorization from the Passamaquoddy Tribe for the vessel to fish in the federal exclusive economic zone," the Coast Guard said.
Repeated efforts to reach tribal Gov. Rick Doyle were unsuccessful. Christine Downing, a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribal Council, returned a call to the Times Thursday night, but said she was unaware of the intervention by the federal authorities with the scalloping on a tribal permit.
Reports of Passamaquoddy tribal members seeking to lease or buy boats based in Gloucester for fishing on tribal authority were presented to the Times two weeks ago.
"A few of my clients have been approached by individuals bearing (tribal) licenses seeking to lease or buy boats to fish on them," attorney Stephen Ouellette told the Times in an e-mail.
He also wrote that the tribal members apparently believed they did not need federal permits to fish in federal waters.
"The Coast Guard's primary goal, with respect to living marine resources is to protect the resource and maintain a level playing field amongst fishermen," Capt. Peter DeCola, the first district chief of maritime law enforcement, said in a prepared statement.
"Since the federal fisheries are fully utilized under the current management scheme," he said, "unpermitted entrants pose a significant danger to fish stocks and put fishermen abiding by the rules at a serious disadvantage."
The Massachusetts Environmental Police and the National Marine Fisheries Service were involved in the boarding of the boat with tribal members on Wednesday.
Richard Gaines can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3464, or rgaines@gloucestertimes.com.
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