Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Act Archives

MARYLAND: Gov. Moore sends federal disaster funding request on current state of fishery

March 3, 2026 — The Delmarva Fisheries Association, sharing with WMDT, a letter from Governor Wes Moore that was sent to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The letter was an attempt to request an evaluation of the current state of commercial fishery in Maryland waters.

With the snowstorm, ice in the Chesapeake Bay has depressed the market this year. Governor Wes Moore said there had been quote “reduced consumer confidence resulting from misconceptions about the impact of the Potomac interceptor sewage spill on Maryland’s waterways.”

Robert Newberry, the President of the Delmarva Fisheries Association, says the Governor’s request for funding from the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Management Act (MSA) and Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (IFA) will take too long to process payment in the current situation, which he claims is dire.

Read the full article at WMDT

MARYLAND: Maryland oyster season collapse prompts calls for federal disaster aid

February 9, 2026 — Maryland officials are asking for federal help amid what they describe as one of the worst oyster seasons in state history, a collapse they say threatens both watermen and a cornerstone of the Chesapeake Bay economy.

U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., this week asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to declare an economic fishery disaster under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Such a designation can unlock emergency federal assistance for fisheries harmed by natural or market conditions.

“Severe weather this year, combined with shrinking market access and increased competition, left many crews effectively tied to the dock, with watermen able to fish for just one or two days all season,” Harris said in a statement. He said immediate relief is needed to offset financial losses.

Eastern Shore lawmakers echoed the comments from Harris, saying a combination of factors — prolonged freezing weather, weak demand and growing competition from out-of-state oysters — devastated the winter harvest. State Sen. Johnny Mautz, R-Middle Shore, said the normal Thanksgiving-to-Christmas peak selling period largely vanished.

“That is prime time oyster sales. This year, it just did not exist,” Mautz said. “There has not been a demand to buy Maryland oysters.”

Read the full article at the Baltimore Sun

Fishermen’s Case That Overturned Chevron Sees Agency Rule Upheld

July 17, 2025 — Atlantic herring fishermen failed to overturn a National Marine Fisheries Service rule requiring vessels to pay onboard compliance monitors’ costs in a case that joined Loper Bright v. Raimondo in rolling back agency deference at the US Supreme Court.

The US District Court for the District of Rhode Island upheld the agency’s interpretation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Act’s vessel observer requirements on Tuesday, offering an early indication of how much courts may exercise independent judgment in determining if the government conducted “reasoned decisionmaking.”

“Congress explicitly delegated discretionary authority,” to the NMFS to issue rules that the agency deems “necessary and appropriate for the conservation and management of the fishery,” and Judge William E. Smith ruled industry-funded monitoring fits within those parameters.

The Supreme Court included a discretionary delegation caveat in the Loper Bright decision last June, which overturned the longstanding Chevron doctrine requiring courts to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute. The cases were remanded to their respective appeals courts, and the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit sent this case back to district court.

Read the full article at Bloomberg Law