Fishermen take case against paying for monitors to Supreme Court

Fishermen take case against paying for monitors to Supreme Court

By PATRICK WHITTLE

Source: pressherald

11/10/2022

Credit: Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

A group of commercial fishermen is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the federal government from making them pay for workers who gather data aboard fishing boats.

The fishermen harvest Atlantic herring off the East Coast and are opposed to a 2020 rule implemented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that requires the industry-funded monitoring. The monitors are workers who collect data on board fishing vessels that are important for informing regulations.

The fishermen, led by main plaintiff Loper Bright Enterprises of New Jersey, have argued that the requirement forces them to pay more than $700 per day to third-party contractors, and that makes fishing financially unsustainable. They’ve lost in lower court rulings and filed a petition with the high court on Thursday.