ELR Citation: 44 ELR 20084
No(s). 13-11301 (D. Mass. Apr 8, 2014) (Stearns, J.)

A district court granted summary judgment in favor of NMFS in a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts and New Hampshire challenging the agency's decision to promulgate Frameworks 48 and 50 regulating New England’s Multispecies Fishery under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The frameworks instituted cutbacks in catch limits to prevent overfishing and rebuild overfished stocks for the groundfish fishery. Massachusetts alleged that the new catch limits would effectively close down the entire groundfish fishery, and New Hampshire intervened in the action. On the whole, the court ruled that the balance struck by NMFS was well “within the bounds of reasoned decisionmaking required by the APA.” NMFS considered the economic impact that severe limits on unhealthy stocks could have on catches of healthier stocks and took mitigation measures that it believed were consistent with the overarching goal of fisheries conservation. In addition, NMFS considered and implemented measures to reduce the social and economic consequences of the annual catch limits on fishing communities, while acting consistently with the primary conservation objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. And despite claims to the contrary, the agency did not ignore “superior or contrary” scientific information in performing its stock assessments of the fishery.