Kahea

MEMORANDUM

1.Food & Water Watch, Inc. (FWW) sufficiently alleged causation and redressa-bility to demonstrate standing. FWW’s members’ concerns are causally connected to the special permit issued by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and would have been redressed if the permit had been denied. See San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Auth. v. United States, 672 F.3d 676, 700 (9th Cir.2012); Renee v. Duncan, 623 F.3d 787, 797-98 (9th Cir.2010).

2. The special permit issued to Kona Blue wasn’t de facto rule making. The special permit was expressly limited in scope, use and duration, and wasn’t trans-ferrable. The permit has now expired and wasn’t “an agency statement of general or particular applicability” with “future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy.” 5 U.S.C. § 551 (4).

3. Even if deference under the standard in Chevron isn’t appropriate, NMFS’s actions were lawful when reviewed using Skidmore deference. United States v. Mead Corp., 533 U.S. 218, 228 , 121 S.Ct. 2164 , 150 L.Ed.2d 292 (2001). NMFS has the authority under the Magnuson-Ste-vens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to issue the fishing permit to Kona Blue. 16 U.S.C. §§ 1801…