Pacific Dawn LLC v. Penny Pritzker

Pacific Dawn LLC and Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish Co., a fish harvester and a fish processor, are subject to a fishery management program that limits their share of the total allowable catch of Pacific whiting. They challenge a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to calculate the amount of their initial share based on their participation in the fishery prior to 2003 and 2004, respectively, rather than on their much greater participation in the years immediately before 2010, when the regulations implementing this program were issued. Because NMFS considered the required factors and made a reasonable decision to use the 2003 and 2004 dates, its decision was not arbitrary or capricious, and we affirm.

I

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) created eight Regional Fishery Management Councils. Each council must create a fishery management plan, which must meet a long list of statutory requirements. 16 U.S.C. § 1853 (a). Among other things, the plan must be “consistent with the national standards” for fishery conservation and management. Id. § 1853(a)(1)(C). The National Standards are comprised of ten broad…