December 8, 2015 — California-based groundfish catcher and processor Pacific Seafood Group has sued the US government seeking to overturn what they say are “illegal” regulations that threaten the company’s future.
A company subsidiary, Pacific Choice Seafoods, which operates a processing plant as well as vessels that fish the Pacific Coast groundfish limited-entry trawl fishery, filed suit on Dec. 4 in a northern California federal court against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its ultimate overseer, US commerce secretary Penny Pritzker.
The company wants the court to overturn four NMFS regulations established in 2010 upon recommendation of the Pacific Fishery Management Council that set up an individual fishing quota (IFQ) system for the fishery.
This includes a measure known as the “aggregate control limit” which restricts the amount of quota shares permit holders can possess to 2.7% of all quota shares held by all permit holders in the fishery, according to the lawsuit. The rules stated that quota holders had to divest shares in excess of the limit by Nov. 30, 2015.
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