Second Circuit – Magnuson-Stevens Act: State of New York v. Raimondo

Listen to this article

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Magnuson-Stevens Act

Fishing regulations

State of New York v. Raimondo

22-1189

Judges Wesley and Park

Background: The plaintiff commenced an action against the National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency responsible for the summer flounder fishery. This is a management plan that includes annual commercial quotas for each state, which determine how much summer flounder that state’s fisherman can catch. The plaintiff argues that current quotas fail to account for the long-term movement of summer flounder northward, closer to New York’s shores. The state argues that the quotas violate the Magnuson-Stevens Act as well as the Administrative Procedure Act. The state now appeals from the grant of summary judgment to the defendant.

Ruling: The Second Circuit affirmed. The court held that the defendant properly weighed the relevant statutory considerations. The court noted that management plan must account for ten national standards which prioritize the preventing of overfishing, the use of accurate data, promote fairness and efficiency, and to protect existing fishing communities.

Stephen J. Yanni, assistant Solicitor General, for the plaintiffs-appellants; Lucas Issacharoff, assistant United States attorney, for the defendants-appellees.

Oral argument audio