New England lobstermen win favorable ruling from appellate court

New England lobstermen have won a favorable ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which reversed a lower court decision and has granted relief.

In a decision Friday afternoon, Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg – the senior justice – wrote that the court was reversing a summary judgment of the District Court for the National Marine Fisheries Service and awarding a summary judgment to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and the State of Maine Department of Marine Resources.

In the decision, the court ruled that the “federal government went too far” in its regulatory process “when they sought to impose significant restrictions on New England’s lobster industry, according to a release.

The case, Maine Lobstermen’s Association and State of Maine Department of Marine Resources v. National Marine Fisheries Service, was argued on Feb. 23. The case, Ginsburg wrote, centered around the National Marine Fisheries Service complying with the Endangered Species Act when doling out licenses to fisheries in federal waters.

In the case, Ginsburg wrote that the organization was to prepare a biological opinion that details how fishing affects endangered and threatened species. That biological opinion, Ginsburg wrote, has to determine if the federal fishery is “not likely” to put any protected species in jeopardy.

According to court documents, the case centered on the service’s “efforts to protect the North Atlantic right whale from mankind and lobstermen.” According to court documents, the whale has been on the protected list since the list was created, and despite reaching 500 North Atlantic right whales in existence in 2011, that number has dropped to 358.

In the decision, Ginsburg wrote that the fisheries service was unable to raise an independent defense for one of the counts in the case and directed the District Court to vacate the biological opinion, which said that lobstermen kill right whales, and provide the relief sought by lobstermen.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu praised the court’s decision in a statement.

“I’m thrilled that the D.C. Circuit Court ruled in favor of New England’s lobstermen after New Hampshire supported their lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service,” Sununu said in a statement. “We were not going to sit and watch as the federal government choked the lobster industry to death with draconian and arbitrary regulation. New Hampshire backs its fishermen, and today’s victory helps keep them in business.”

A voicemail left for Maine Gov. Janet Mills from The Center Square had not been returned before publication.