Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-451_7m58.pdf
Page Number: 12

4 

LOPER BRIGHT ENTERPRISES v. RAIMONDO 

Opinion of the Court 

izes  the  Secretary  to  impose  “sanctions”  when  “any  pay-
ment  required  for  observer  services  provided  to  or  con-
tracted  by  an  owner  or  operator  . . .  has  not  been  paid.” 
§1858(g)(1)(D).

The  MSA  does  not  contain  similar  terms  addressing
whether  Atlantic  herring  fishermen  may  be  required  to 
bear costs associated with any observers a plan may man-
date.  And  at  one  point,  NMFS  fully  funded  the  observer 
coverage  the  New  England  Fishery  Management  Council 
required in its plan for the Atlantic herring fishery.  See 79 
Fed. Reg. 8792 (2014).  In 2013, however, the council pro-
posed amending its fishery management plans to empower 
it to require fishermen to pay for observers if federal fund-
ing became unavailable.  Several years later, NMFS prom-
ulgated a rule approving the amendment.  See 85 Fed. Reg. 
7414 (2020).

With respect to the Atlantic herring fishery, the Rule cre-
ated an industry funded program  that aims to ensure ob-
server coverage on 50 percent of trips undertaken by vessels 
with certain types of permits.  Under that program, vessel 
representatives must “declare into” a fishery before begin-
ning a trip by notifying NMFS of the trip and announcing
the species the vessel intends to harvest.  If NMFS deter-
mines that an observer is required, but declines to assign a 
Government-paid  one,  the  vessel  must  contract  with  and 
pay  for  a  Government-certified  third-party  observer. 
NMFS estimated that the cost of such an observer would be 
up to $710 per day, reducing annual returns to the vessel 
owner by up to 20 percent.  See id., at 7417–7418. 

B 
Petitioners  Loper  Bright  Enterprises,  Inc.,  H&L  Axels-
son,  Inc.,  Lund  Marr  Trawlers  LLC,  and  Scombrus  One 
LLC are family businesses that operate in the Atlantic her-
ring fishery.  In February 2020, they challenged the Rule 
under  the  MSA,  16  U. S. C.  §1855(f ),  which  incorporates