ELR Citation: 53 ELR 20163
No(s). 22-1189 (2d Cir. Oct 13, 2023)

The Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment for NMFS in a challenge to its 2020 allocation rule setting summer flounder quotas for eleven states. The state of New York argued that by failing to allocate a higher quota to New York, the rule failed to account for the long-term movement of summer flounder northward, in violation of several of the Magnuson-Stevens Act's (MSA's) national standards. A district court rejected the state's argument and granted summary judgment for NMFS. The appellate court concluded that NMFS properly considered the national standards outlined in the MSA when it set the quotas through the allocation rule, and affirmed summary judgment for the Service.