Saving Seafood

Alaska asks US Supreme Court to weigh in on subsistence fishing dispute with federal officials

September 18, 2025 — After losing its case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the state of Alaska is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on its subsistence fishing system, which gives preferential treatment to rural Alaskans.

“Alaska’s fisheries are among the most bountiful in the world, sustaining tens of thousands of livelihoods through commercial, sport, and subsistence fishing. Yet, the Ninth Circuit’s decision deepens a fractured system that undermines conservation, creates confusion, and threatens equitable access for all Alaskans. Salmon don’t recognize federal and state boundaries; our management shouldn’t either. We remain committed to sustainable management and will continue fighting for a system that works for every Alaskan. The Court should decide this case and reverse the Ninth Circuit,” Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: Maine leaders split on environmental regulation ruling by US Supreme Court

July 9, 2024 — A U.S. Supreme Court decision is weakening the power of federal agencies to approve new regulations, and some Maine fishermen are celebrating.

By a vote of 6-3, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council ruling from 1984.

Governor Janet Mills shared concerns that this decision could impact how federal agencies protect the health and safety of Americans. Maine House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, also a lobster fisherman, says this could help in their fight against federal fishing regulations.

Read the full article at WGME

Supreme Court to Hear Another Broad Challenge to Agency Power

October 16, 2023 — The Supreme Court said on Friday that it would hear a second challenge to a foundational precedent on the power of executive agencies.

The new case is almost identical to one the court agreed to hear in May, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, No. 22-451. The court’s usual practice when asked to hear a follow-on case concerning the same issues is to hold the new case until the earlier one is resolved and then return it to the lower courts for reconsideration in light of the ruling in the first one.

The court’s unusual decision to grant review in the new case was almost surely because Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson had recused herself from the earlier case, having served on the panel that heard it when she was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The new case comes from the First Circuit, in Boston, and so does not require Justice Jackson’s recusal.

Read the full article at The New York Times

 

Supreme Court sets up doubleheader to scrutinize federal government authority

October 16, 2023 — The Supreme Court added a second layer to its examination of the inner workings of the federal government on Friday, agreeing to hear another challenge to a decades-old precedent governing agency power.

A Friday afternoon orders list from the court revealed the justices would be reviewing another challenge to Chevron USA v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The court already agreed to hear a challenge to the precedent, but Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was recused from the case.

The newly granted case is very similar to its predecessor, challenging the authority of the National Marine Fisheries Service to place federal observers on fishing vessels.

Citing the Declaration of Independence in their petition, the fisheries say they suffer similar grievances to those living under English rule.

“The people of New England famously rebelled against George III because he ‘erected’ ‘New Offices and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass’ them ‘and eat out their substance,’” John Vecchione, an attorney with the New Civil Liberties Alliance representing the fisheries, wrote. “Respondents have revived cause for similar grievance by promulgating a regulation that requires at-sea monitors (“ASMs”) to be paid for by the very fishing vessels forced to carry them.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Supreme Court to hear second Chevron challenge brought by fishermen

October 16, 2023 — The U.S. Supreme Court will listen to arguments on two challenges to NOAA Fisheries’ regulatory authority in January 2024, the court announced this week.

The court announced 13 October that it would take up the case of Relentless, Inc. v. the U.S. Department of Commerce, a lawsuit filed by Atlantic herring fishermen in 2020 challenging the government’s authority to require fishermen to pay for at-sea monitors on their vessels. The fishermen claim the monitors can cost as much as USD 700 (EUR 640) per day.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource