Column: How to Rebalance Responsible Fisheries Management After Chevron

Sam Grimley has served as executive director of the environmental nonprofit Sea Pact since 2022. Alexandra Golub is the sustainability manager for New York-based Acme Smoked Fish.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of New England herring fishermen who felt they were unfairly forced to bear the financial burden of hiring independent observers at sea to observe their catches.

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has determined that vessel owners must pay salaries – up to $700 per day (€640) – to mandatory federal observers “staying” on board to enforce fisheries management regulations and prevent overfishing.

In a recent ruling, the court overturned a long-standing legal precedent known as the Chevron deference that allowed regulatory agencies to broadly interpret congressional statutes, giving those agencies, such as NMFS, the freedom to set and implement regulations without direct legislative oversight. Reaction to the court’s sweeping decision was mixed, but the seafood industry should not let this change in process derail its own efforts to improve monitoring and compliance in fisheries.

Many seafood farmers and other stakeholders in the fishing industry praised the court’s decision. Small, independent fishermen’s revenues often fluctuate widely, given market dynamics, changing off-vessel prices, landings, and other internal and external costs. Requiring fishermen to pay an additional $700 per day out of pocket for at-sea monitors is a significant burden that could impact small-scale fishermen’s margins and threaten the profitability of their operations.

At the same time, environmentalists and other interested parties condemned the last decisionIndependent monitoring and compliance are fundamental pillars of responsible fisheries management, providing transparency and key data that can inform fisheries management decisions and contribute to the long-term sustainability and health of fisheries.

We at Sea Pact believe, and hope that the responses to this ruling will not be lost on us, the importance of the issue at the heart of the regulation: the imperative for the United States to manage fisheries to sustain coastal economies, contribute to the nation’s food security, and support the ecological health and biodiversity of our unique waters.

Monitoring and compliance with regulations at sea is key to sustainable fisheries management, which is reflected in respect for regulatory framework, Sustainability certification standardsAND researchThese efforts must be implemented efficiently and economically, without placing the burden solely on collectors.

Electronic monitoring (EM) provides an opportunity to do just that. EM refers to the use of electronic technologies such as cameras, sensors, and GPS tracking to monitor fishing activities and enforce regulations, while potentially replacing costly monitoring methods such as on-board observers.

EM solutions have been available for more than a decade, and significant progress has been made in recent years, but more effort is needed to scale the technologies. EM is not as simple as placing a camera on a vessel and pressing record. The data collected must be assessed, analyzed, and used to inform management decisions whenever possible, creating a continuous feedback loop for collectors and regulators. Importantly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution yet, as the technology must be calibrated to support individual fisheries, vessels, and gear types. Machine learning and AI can solve some of these problems, but more pilots and trials are needed to accelerate widespread adoption.

To date, many of the electromagnetic technology initiatives in the U.S. have been led by farmers, regulators, and researchers, but there is an opportunity for the broader seafood industry to collaborate and support electromagnetic technology initiatives to ensure farmers have the ability to pilot these technologies without bearing the full burden of implementation costs.

An example of such an effort is the recent Project financed by the Maritime Pact develop and access EM technologies to support the long-term sustainability of the commercial mixed reef fishery in the Gulf of Mexico operated by Mote Marine Laboratory. Outside the United States, Seafood Fisheries and New Technologies convenes technologists, fisheries stakeholders and regulators to use technology, including EM, to address major seafood and fisheries challenges. These are just two examples of activities supported by Sea Pact from 2022 onwards, but there are many more that fall outside the scope of Sea Pact.

While the Supreme Court decision directly impacts national fisheries policy, the seafood industry is global and connects us all. More industry support for cost-effective, effective monitoring and compliance is needed to ensure the long-term viability of fisheries and the livelihoods of the harvesters on whom the entire sector depends.

Opportunities to accelerate the adoption of electromagnetic technologies across the industry include engaging in pre-competitive collaborations focused on sustainability initiatives, engaging supply chain partners and data collectors in electromagnetic activities, including pilot programs, and sharing successes and lessons learned from these activities.

Whether or not Chevron respects us, our fisheries and fishing communities need innovative and cost-effective solutions to build a more resilient future.