Location: U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit | Status: Active
Summary: Save the Sound filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enterprises vs. Raimondo. This case involves a New England-based fishing company challenging an agency decision regarding at-sea observers, who monitor the use of public waters and help obtain data necessary to sustainably manage the Atlantic herring fishery.
In Loper Bright, the Supreme Court agreed to re-examine the Chevron deference doctrine, a 40-year-old Supreme Court principle under which federal courts defer to a federal agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute when Congress has authorized that agency to administer it. The industries and lawyers behind this case filed it as part of a decades-long campaign to use the Supreme Court to shift power away from the branches of government that are most responsive to everyday Americans and move it to the federal courts.
The underlying case, and the specific reason we filed the brief, involves a challenge to a decision by the New England Fishery Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to use at-sea observers to gather much needed data about the Atlantic herring fishery. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires the Secretary of Commerce, who oversees NMFS, to promulgate fisheries management plans that prevent overfishing. Those plans must reflect “the best scientific information available” and also may “require that one or more observers be carried on board” operating fishing vessels.
Under the herring observer plan, the largest fishing vessels in the fishery are required to bear some of the costs of obtaining that data. The fishing companies who sued in Loper Bright argue that the Magnuson-Stevens Act does not give NMFS the authority to require fishermen to pay for observers to monitor their use of public waters. A district court rejected that argument, and a court of appeals upheld the district court’s ruling by applying the Chevron deference doctrine, as Supreme Court precedent required.
When Congress passed the Magnuson-Stevens Act with bipartisan support in 1976, it was addressing a serious problem: 20% of all known fish stocks had been overfished. Nearly 50 years later, many fisheries still struggle to produce sustainable yields, threatening resources that belong to all of us and the livelihoods of those who harvest them.
“On-board observers, in many cases industry-funded, have been an indispensable part of preventing overfishing and maintaining healthy populations since the birth of the Act,” said Save the Sound Senior Legal Director Roger Reynolds. “By way of example, Long Island Sound river herring have suffered a precipitous drop in the last several years, and good data from observers is critical to understand and address the issue. Industries are routinely required to bear the costs of compliance with environmental protection and other regulatory schemes and the Justices should reject the invitation to rewrite the law.”
The amicus brief was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of Save the Sound, Ocean Conservancy, and Conservation Law Foundation. In June 2024, the Supreme Court issued its ruling, overturning the 40-year-old Chevron defense doctrine. However, it did not directly address the fisheries issue; instead, it sent the case back to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for further action. The DC court will decide, without relying on the Chevron defense doctrine, whether the Magnuson-Stevens Act authorizes the NMFS to require fishermen to pay for observers to monitor their use of public waters.
Latest Step: The U.S. Supreme Court remanded the case to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.
Next Step: Joining Earthjustice, Ocean Conservancy, and the Conservation Law Foundation in filing an amicus brief in the D.C. Circuit Court.
Further Reading:
- PRESS RELEASE: Save the Sound responds to SCOTUS decision weakening agency powers
- PRESS RELEASE: Save the Sound joins environmental groups in filing Supreme Court amicus brief in fisheries management case
Action Opportunities:
Last Updated: September 26, 2024