GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA

Strict federal regulations implemented last November have already cost the Massachusetts fishing industry more than $22 million in revenues, Gov. Deval Patrick said yesterday.

Patrick cited the loss as proof that the struggling state groundfish fleet needs economic disaster relief.

In February, Patrick asked federal Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to declare an economic disaster had been caused by federal rules that have reduced the time fishermen may spend at sea and the amount of certain species of fish, such as cod and haddock, they may land.

"The revenue declines experienced by fishing communities represent a true economic disaster," Patrick said.

Jose Martinez, a spokesman for the governor, said yesterday that the $22 million is a statement of loss, rather than a request for a specific amount. "That's the number we know is missing," he said.

There is no deadline under federal law dictating when Gutierrez might act on the request.

And one Commerce official termed Patrick's request "awkward."

Kevin Allexon, a senior policy adviser, said it's an "awkward request" because it asks the federal government to declare its own rules flawed. He said there's never been a disaster declared as "the result of government regulation. We have to evaluate whether this particular circumstance qualifies as a disaster."

According to the report Patrick sent to Gutierrez yesterday, new regulations that took effect in November. The new rules, called Framework 42, which cut the number of days fishermen can fish inshore by half, will reduce the average revenue of all vessels with home ports in Massachusetts by 20 percent.

In addition, the report compiled by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries states that the total projection of future losses in sales to the Northeast as a region is about $52 million, with a total economic impact of $98 million.

The brunt of the total future economic impact from the regulations is expected to be borne by New Bedford, $14.4 million; Gloucester, $13.5 million; and Boston, $11.1 million.

"The state has made a compelling case to support a fishery disaster declaration and I urge the Department of Commerce to provide the declaration as quickly as possible, so that immediate steps can be taken to remedy the economic losses," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., coommenting on the report yesterday.

The federal Department of Commerce, which oversees the nation's fisheries through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, declared a disaster in the New England groundfish fishery in 1994, opening the region up to $55 million in aid.

Patrick's report makes comparisons to the 1994 disaster, stating that New England "groundfish landings were 65,000 metric tons in 1993 compared to 32,300 metric tons in the 2005-2006 fishing year - about 50 percent less than the amount justifying the earlier declaration."

Another $5 million in aid came to Massachusetts fishermen from the federal government in 2000, though it did not formally declare a disaster.

Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, said yesterday he plans, along with Congressman Barney Frank, D-Newton, to encourage the rest of the state's congressional delegation to "contact the secretary himself and ask that he reviews this quickly, that he takes prompt action and that he honors the request."

Melissa Wagoner, a spokeswoman for Kennedy, said the delegation is preparing a letter encouraging Gutierrez to approve the request.

"I think the package they put together is quite detailed and comprehensive," said Peter Kovar, a spokesman for Frank. "It's something we'll back strongly and do everything we can to make sure it happens."

Environmental groups contend that the decline in earnings among fishermen is a result of fragile stocks of fish, rather than tight regulations aimed at rebuilding those species back to healthy levels.

"The governor's proposal is only a stop-gap measure," said Priscilla Brooks, director of the Conservation Law Foundation's ocean conservation program, which supports strict limits. "There's been relentless overfishing going on. Fishermen can't make a living because there's not enough fish in the sea."

Vito Calomo, executive director of the Massachusetts Fisheries Recovery Commission, said the success of the governor's request depends on having the splintered fishing industry speak with one voice.

"I saw at (an industry) meeting with the governor all those people speaking in unison backing the governor for this declaration of disaster," he said. "That's the way we need to do things."

Framework 42, which took effect Nov. 22, counts each day a fisherman spends in an area that stretches about 30 miles off Gloucester and runs from Cape Cod to just north of Portland, Maine, as two days at sea. Between May and November, an emergency regulation, in place while the New England Fishery Management Council completed work on Framework 42, counted each actual day as 1.4 days toward a fisherman's allocation.

State Attorney General Martha Coakley will continue to pursue a lawsuit filed against the federal government by her predecessor, Thomas Reilly, and New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, that claims Framework 42 is unfair to New England fishermen and would deny them access to 13 healthy fish stocks that are not being overfished.

That lawsuit is pending in federal court.

A Massachusetts Fisheries Recovery Commission report released in December found that fishing employment fell 22 percent in Gloucester, as well as in other Massachusetts ports, with the implementation of restrictive federal fishing rules in the 1990s.

That study also said that following a major rule change in 2003, Amendment 13, as many as 49 jobs and $3.5 million in wages were lost in Gloucester and similar losses occurred in other fishing cities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Disaster relief request

The report Gov. Deval Patrick sent to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez outlines the economic problems of the state groundfishing industry caused by recent federal regulations.

* Landings are lower than they were in 1993, just before the last declaration of disaster by the federal government

* The most recent federal regulations will result in a $52 million decline in future sales in the Northeast, with the region's economy taking a $98 million hit

* The largest impact will be felt in New Bedford, $14.4 million, Gloucester, $13.5 million, and Boston, $11.1 million

* Half the vessels with home ports in Massachusetts are projected to face a decline in revenues of at least 16 percent