Washington State Charterboat Association v. Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary of Commerce

Appellant Washington State Charterboat Association is an organization of Washington State citizens who operate offices and vessels serving ocean sport anglers. The Association brought this litigation to compel the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to revise the federal management plan for salmon fishing off the coast of Washington. Specifically, the Association seeks to substitute an “aggregate” approach for the “run-by-run” approach used by the Secretary to determine the portions of each North Pacific salmon harvest allocated to various Indian tribes under the federal plan. According to the Association, the run-by-run approach is not required by the treaties that established the Indians’ fishing rights and is inconsistent with the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1801-1882 (Mag-nuson Act). These legal issues were argued to the district court on cross-motions for summary judgment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Secretary. The Association appeals. We affirm.

I

This action arises from a history of controversy between treaty and nontreaty fishers in Washington State over the division of fishing rights. See, e.g., S.Rep. No.…