Costa-Pierce, Barry A.

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Roger Williams University Law ReviewVolume 8Issue 1 Symposium: National Fisheries Law & Policy Article 2Fall 2002Opening Comments for the National FisheriesLaw and Policy SymposiumBarry A. Costa-PierceUniversity of Rhode IslandFollow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LRThis Symposia is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Roger WilliamsUniversity Law Review by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationCosta-Pierce, Barry A. (2002) "Opening Comments for the National Fisheries Law and Policy Symposium," Roger Williams UniversityLaw Review: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 2.Available at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LR/vol8/iss1/2Opening Comments for the NationalFisheries Law and PolicySymposiumDr. Barry A. Costa-Pierce*I would like to thank the symposium organizers at the RogerWilliams University Ralph R. Papitto School of Law and Rhode Is-land Sea Grant for their hard work in putting this exciting pro-gram together. I would also like to acknowledge the contributionsof our colleagues at the National Sea Grant Office, the NationalSea Grant Fisheries Theme Team, the National"Sea Grant LawCenter, and the Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, and Woods HoleOceanographic Institution Sea Grant Programs for their sponsor-ship of this timely event.Modern capture fisheries - for all of the problems you haveheard about - remain quite a remarkable field of dynamic, multi-disciplinary environmental scholarship. Stock assessment modelshave to be developed and tested, not only by mathematically astuteindividuals in agencies and universities, but also in the real worldof business, management and policy. These scientific models affectthe lives of thousands of people on a regular basis. Few otherfields of scientific endeavor in the environmental sciences havesuch a remarkable breadth. Furthermore, recent information fromthe National Marine Fisheries Service indicates that we will faceeven greater challenges in the future.' Despite the conservationmeasures in place for fisheries on the Grand Banks, several specieshave declined drastically in recent years. According to one report:* Director of the Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program and Professor ofFisheries, University of Rhode Island.1. See Kenneth Sherman et al., The U.S. Northeast Shelf Large MarineEcosystem: Zooplankton Trends in Fish Biomass Recovery, in LARGE MARINE Eco-SYSTEMS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC 195-211 (Kenneth Sherman & Hein Rue Skjoldaleds., 2002).6 ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEWBy 1995, all major cod and flounder fisheries on the GrandBanks were closed and many fish species such as turbot andocean perch have had their catch levels sharply restricted.These fisheries are slowly recovering due to a concerted ef-fort... to enforce existing conservation regulations on GrandBanks fish stocks. As well, an increased abundance of speciessuch as crab, clams and scallops has led to the [increased]development of these fisheries on the Grand Banks in thepast five years. 2In 1999, the port of New Bedford ranked second in the nationfor the value of its commercial fishery landings ($129.9 million).3A nearly complete revision of management regulations for the scal-lop sector accounted for most of the success. 4 Therefore, it is possi-ble for example, that five years from now we may be in a situationof having to plan for landing and processing not three millionpounds per year of yellowtail flounder, but thirty million poundsper year.5 But where have you heard lately of a mechanism beingcreated for managing success in capture fisheries? All we hearabout are the failures.Fisheries are that dynamic. Our abilities to develop new, moreinclusive mechanisms for multi-disciplinary fisheries scholarshipwith direct benefits to fisheries stakeholders are primitive, andmust improve.In the modern day context, fisheries decisions are not onlytested in labs, but also in the courts of public opinion, and increas-ingly, in our courts of law. Over 100 lawsuits brought by both con-servation and industry groups are now pending against theNational Marine Fisheries Service. 6 These lawsuits are adding toa large and growing body of case law on fisheries issues.My hope is that this symposium will add to this body of dy-namic, ever-changing knowledge in fisheries law and help to estab-lish additional routes of communication between the many diverse2. GOVT OF NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR, THE GRAND BANKS, at http:llwww.gov.nf.ca/exec/premier/gbanks.htm (last visited Feb. 26, 2003).3. MADELEINE HALL-ARBER ET AL., MIT SEA GRANT COLL. PROGRAM, NEW EN-GLAND'S FISHING COMMUNITIES 107 (2002), available at http://web.mit.edu/sea-grantladvisory/marfin/htmlvers/newbedford.html (last visited Feb. 26, 2003).4. See id.5. See Sherman et al., supra note 1, at 208.6. Bart Jansen, Senators: Fisheries Regulated by Lawsuits, PORTLAND PRESSHERALD, May 10, 2002, at B4.[Vol. 8:520021 OPENING COMMENTS 7disciplines in fisheries science and environmental law. Research-ing the legal aspects of the fisheries challenges we face can onlyhelp broaden our perspectives and help deepen our understandingof the issues. During this symposium we will hear case studiesthat demonstrate the clear need for fisheries managers chargedwith developing sustainable fisheries to work with legal expertsrepresenting the larger public trust. By incorporating the legal as-pects into our planning, we may find innovative ways to ease theendless conflicts we face in resolving the most difficult issues infisheries resource management.I would like to thank Bruce Kogan - Dean of the Law School,Roger Williams University, Ron Baird of National Oceanic and At-mospheric Administration, and Sea Grant for offering us this op-portunity to meet and be challenged by each other.

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