Netting a Win for Fisheries on North Pacific Council's Amendment 113
As a result of our efforts, Groundfish Forum, Katie Ann LLC, and United Catcher Boats hauled in a nice win for their industry.
In the matter Groundfish Forum et al. v. Wilbur L. Ross, et al., 375 F.Supp.3d 72 (D.D.C. 2019), D.C. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that the North Pacific Council’s Amendment 113 to the Bering Sea Groundfish Fisheries Management Plan does not comply with Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) requirements.
Judge Kelly's ruling rejected arguments by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that Amendment 113 was consistent with the MSA's national standards for fishery management. Judge Kelly vacated the rule implementing Amendment 113 and remanded Amendment 113 to the agency for reconsideration. This decision served to bring an end to an improper regulation that limited the ability of our clients and others to fish and process cod in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. This improper regulation negatively impacted their businesses and livelihoods.
In 2016, the NMFS adopted Amendment 113 to the management plan for Pacific cod in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands archipelago. The NMFS concluded that previous conservation measures had led to more vessels in the region processing their catch at sea. Fewer vessels were delivering their catch to onshore processing plants in two nearby island fishing communities—Adak and Atka. Amendment 113 set aside a portion of the Pacific cod fishery off the coast of the Aleutian Islands each year for exclusive harvest by vessels that delivered their fish to one of only two onshore processing plants located in Adak and Atka.
Pursuant to Judge Kelly’s ruling, the NMFS failed to demonstrate that this preferential treatment for these two processing plants satisfied the requisite standards for such regulatory measures set forth by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Judge Kelly found that the decision to adopt Amendment 113 was arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with applicable law.
SeafoodNews.com covered the ruling. For the full article, click here. (subscription required)