|
|
1.20.98 07:08:18
Lobstermen
ask: Where is our settlement?
By PAUL DAVIS
Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer
NARRAGANSETT
-- Before the oil spill, lobsterman Jay Swoboda could count on a good day in December to keep him afloat -- a day when he could haul in 1,300 pounds of lobster from the cold waters of Rhode Island's coast.
Last month, on his best day, the 30-year veteran caught 300 pounds of lobster. He told his wife to cancel their vacation plans.
``We're all working longer hours and longer days, for less cash,'' said Swoboda, who now keeps about half of his 1,300 lobster traps in storage.
Swoboda was one of a half-dozen fishermen, lawyers and officials who -- amid thousands of empty traps stacked on a muddy field in Galilee -- yesterday urged Eklof Marine Corp., the New York company responsible for Rhode Island's worst oil spill, to settle with hundreds of lobstermen seeking financial relief from the accident.
Robert Smith, president of the Rhode Island Lobstermen's Association, said that despite Department of Environmental Management reports that show the statewide lobster catch increasing, the catch for those who fish in the waters near the oil spill is off by as much as 30 percent to 50 percent. He and others attributed the drop in catches to lingering effects of the spill, which experts say killed more than 12 million lobsters.
Smith said he expects the decline to continue through the year 2000 because so many juvenile lobsters were killed in the spill. ``This is a serious issue for us,'' he said.
Eklof, the owner of the North Cape barge
that ran aground in early 1996, last week agreed to pay $9.5 million in fines and compensation, the third-largest penalty ever imposed for an oil spill in the United States.
Lobstermen yesterday lauded the settlement, which will net state and federal governments about $7 million. But the agreement, they added, leaves nothing for area lobstermen.
``It seems that everyone has been taken care of except for the thousands of Rhode Island families whose livelihoods depend upon the Rhode Island fishery and all the small businesses that it spawns,'' Smith said.
``It's time that Eklof was held responsible for the economic destruction that it set in motion when the North Cape split open on Jan. 19, 1996.''
The imposition of fines, in separate hearings in federal and state courtrooms, last week ended the criminal investigation into the
oil spill. However, more than 600 fishermen and businesses hurt by the spill have filed civil claims against Eklof.
Thomas F. Holt Jr., a lawyer representing the lobstermen's group, yesterday urged Eklof Marine to force its insurer to settle the lobstermen's claims fairly and promptly.
``We are not going to allow Eklof to put this tragedy behind them until they have settled with all the victims of this incident,'' Holt said in a statement. ``Until these hard-working families are made whole, this sad chapter in Rhode Island's history will always be in front of us.''
Michael Doyle, a spokesman for Eklof Marine, said yesterday that the company wants to ``address the issue as quickly as possible. No one, in any way, shape or form is minimizing the impact'' of the spill, Doyle said.
Eklof, he added, has already settled with some lobstermen. He urged others to file documents such as tax forms and other records with the company's office in Narragansett. ``There's an opportunity for partial settlement, with some level of documentation,'' he said.
Smith and a handful of lobstermen talked for about an hour at yesterday's news conference. Under a leaden sky, framed by empty lobster traps near the port's fishing docks, they talked about the harsh impact of the oil spill on the industry and their lives.
According to Smith, most fishermen have invested $50,000 to $500,000 in boats, bait, crews and equipment. Although no one has gone out of business, ``they are tightening their belts,'' he said.
``It's not like something that hits you hard one morning,'' added lobsterman John Sorlien.
``It's a dull ache and it's a financial one and it's there every day. You take 50 percent of someone's income away from them and they're going to be in trouble.''
Smith and others said the state's inshore lobster catch had been growing steadily for five years before the spill. Then the catch fell sharply.
Even worse, state officials -- concerned about the impact of the spill -- closed area waters to local fishermen until the summer of 1996. ``By the time the waters were open, they [lobstermen] were a couple of months behind,'' said Al Christopher, a lobster dealer. ``Our gross is way off.''
The decline occurred as lobstermen in Connecticut and in offshore waters were enjoying a good year, Christopher said.
The decline is taking its toll, said Swoboda, who recently took out a bank loan to repair his 41-foot boat and add a new motor. He has three high school - age children who will need college money soon, he said.
``I'm going to be 44, and I thought I'd chosen a good career. I had hoped to be able to pay off the boat and put the kids through college, by putting some money away,'' he said.
``We're no longer doing that. We're just trying to survive. This is not where I wanted to be right now.''
Recap the North Cape oil
spill:
For the full report of what happened two years ago off Moonstone Beach, first-person stories, research links, and an archive of what's happened since, see the special report on the spill produced by projo.com, the Journal-Bulletin's Web site. Go to: http://projo.com/horizons/oilspill
Copyright © 1998 The Providence Journal Company
Produced by www.projo.com
|
|
|
