Pac. Choice Seafood Co. v. Ross

309 F. Supp. 3d 787
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedFebruary 21, 2018
DocketCase No. 15–cv–05572–HSG
StatusPublished

This text of 309 F. Supp. 3d 787 (Pac. Choice Seafood Co. v. Ross) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pac. Choice Seafood Co. v. Ross, 309 F. Supp. 3d 787 (N.D. Cal. 2018).

Opinion

HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR., United States District Judge

Pending before the Court are Plaintiffs' and Defendants' cross motions for summary judgment. Dkt. Nos. 70, 78. In this action, Plaintiffs Pacific Choice Seafood Company, Sea Princess, LLC, and Pacific Fishing, LLC challenge certain provisions of a federal fisheries management program that establishes an individual fishing quota program (the "IFQ Program"). For the reasons detailed below, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs' motion and GRANTS Defendants' motion for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

This case concerns the manner in which the Secretary of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service ("NMFS") regulate the fishing of Pacific non-whiting fish species off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California.

A. Statutory Background

Congress enacted the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act ("Magnuson Act" or the "Act") to "conserve and manage the fishery resources found off the coasts of the United States" and "to promote domestic commercial and recreational fishing under sound conservation and management principles." 16 U.S.C. § 1801(b)(1), (3). The Act established eight regional fishery management councils, tasked with developing fishery management plans ("FMP") and any necessary amendments and implementing regulations to "achieve and maintain, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery." 16 U.S.C. §§ 1801(b)(4)-(5), 1852(a)(1)(F), (h)(1), 1853(c). NMFS, acting on behalf of the Secretary, reviews these FMPs to ensure compliance with national standards for fishery conservation and management, the Magnuson Act, and any other applicable law.2 See id. §§ 1851(a), 1854.

*790As part of a region's FMP, the councils may limit access to the fishery through limited access privilege programs ("LAPPs") such as quotas. See 16 U.S.C. §§ 1802(26), 1853a. In creating such a program, councils must take into account several factors: participation in the fishery; historical fishing practices; economics; capability of vessels to engage in other fisheries; cultural and social framework and affected fishing communities; fair and equitable distribution of access privileges; and other relevant considerations. Id. §§ 1853(b)(6), 1853a(c). The councils must also ensure that no privilege holders "acquire an excessive share" of the total limited access privileges. See id. § 1853a(c)(5)(D). Moreover, any privilege created under a LAPP "may be revoked, limited, or modified at any time." See id. § 1853a(b)(2).

B. Pacific Groundfish Fishery

At issue in this case are amendments to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, the FMP for the Pacific Groundfish Fishery that covers the United States' territorial waters off the coast of Washington, Oregon, and California (the "Fishery"). Cf. 42 Fed. Reg. 12,937 -98 (Mar. 7, 1977). The Fishery is overseen by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (the "Council"). See 16 U.S.C. § 1852(a)(1)(F). Every two years, the Council establishes catch limits, which "represent an annual quantity of fish that the groundfish fishery as a whole may catch." See Pac. Coast Fed'n of Fishermen's Ass'ns v. Blank , 693 F.3d 1084, 1089 (9th Cir. 2012). Prior to the amendments at issue in this case, the Council regulated the Fishery's catch limits through trip, gear, and season restrictions. See id. ; see also 75 Fed. Reg. 32,994, 32,995 -96 (June 10, 2010). Beginning in 2003, however, the Council began developing a new LAPP to manage the Fishery instead. Pac. Coast , 693 F.3d at 1089.

C. Challenged Amendments

Amendments 20 and 21 to the Fishery's FMP created a new LAPP-the IFQ Program-through which participants receive permits to harvest a specific portion or quota share ("QS") of the Fishery's total allowable catch. The Council presented the amendments to NMFS on May 7, 2010. See Dkt. No. 72-4 (letter from Council to NMFS). NMFS approved the amendments in August 2010, and issued two sets of regulations codifying the amendments. See 75 Fed. Reg. 60,868 (Oct. 1, 2010) ; 75 Fed. Reg. 78,344 (Dec. 15, 2010). The IFQ Program became effective on January 1, 2011, and established the following provisions relevant to this action: (1) a 2.7% aggregate limit on the amount of total QS of all non-whiting species fished in the Pacific Fishery that a person or entity may own or control, see 50 C.F.R. §§ 660.11, 660.140(d)(4)(i)(C) ; (2) a regulation that defines "control" as, inter alia , "the ability through any means whatsoever to control or have a controlling influence" over QS, 50 C.F.R. § 660.11

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Humphreys v. McKissock
140 U.S. 304 (Supreme Court, 1891)
Hawley v. City of Malden
232 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1914)
Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe
401 U.S. 402 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Mathews v. Eldridge
424 U.S. 319 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Burlington Northern Inc. v. United States
459 U.S. 131 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Astoria Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Solimino
501 U.S. 104 (Supreme Court, 1991)
United States v. Texas
507 U.S. 529 (Supreme Court, 1993)
United States v. Bestfoods
524 U.S. 51 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Dole Food Co. v. Patrickson
538 U.S. 468 (Supreme Court, 2003)
Mission Group Kansas, Inc. v. Riley
146 F.3d 775 (Tenth Circuit, 1998)
American Pelagic Fishing Company, L.P. v. United States
379 F.3d 1363 (Federal Circuit, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
309 F. Supp. 3d 787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pac-choice-seafood-co-v-ross-cand-2018.