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LOPER BRIGHT ENTERPRISES v. RAIMONDO 

Opinion of the Court 

framework  to  interpret  statutes  administered  by  federal
agencies.  After determining that a case satisfies the vari-
ous  preconditions  we  have  set  for  Chevron  to  apply,  a  re-
viewing court must first assess “whether Congress has di-
rectly spoken to the precise question at issue.”  Id., at 842. 
If, and only if, congressional intent is “clear,” that is the end
of the inquiry.  Ibid.  But if the court determines that “the 
statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific
issue”  at  hand,  the  court  must,  at  Chevron’s  second  step, 
defer to the agency’s interpretation if it “is based on a per-
missible construction of the statute.”  Id., at 843.  The re-
viewing courts in each of the cases before us applied Chev-
ron’s  framework  to  resolve  in  favor  of  the  Government 
challenges to the same agency rule. 

A 
Before 1976, unregulated foreign vessels dominated fish-
ing in the international waters off the U. S. coast, which be-
gan  just  12  nautical  miles  offshore.    See,  e.g.,  S.  Rep.
No. 94–459, pp. 2–3 (1975).  Recognizing the resultant over-
fishing and the need for sound management of fishery re-
sources, Congress enacted the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation  and  Management  Act  (MSA).  See  90  Stat. 
331 (codified as amended at 16 U. S. C. §1801 et seq.).  The 
MSA  and  subsequent  amendments  extended  the  jurisdic-
tion of the United States to 200 nautical miles beyond the 
U. S. territorial sea and claimed “exclusive fishery manage-
ment authority over all fish” within that area, known as the
“exclusive economic zone.”  §1811(a); see Presidential Proc-
lamation No. 5030, 3 CFR 22 (1983 Comp.); §§101, 102, 90
Stat. 336.  The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) 
administers the MSA under a delegation from the Secretary
of Commerce. 

The MSA established eight regional fishery management 
councils  composed  of  representatives  from  the  coastal
States,  fishery  stakeholders,  and  NMFS.    See  16  U. S. C.