Source: https://www.animallaw.info/case/us-v-cameron
Timestamp: 2017-02-27 06:53:28
Document Index: 111820331

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3372', '§ 3375', '§ 1291', '§ 773', '§ 773', '§ 3371', '§ 301', '§ 773', '§ 773', '§ 773', '§ 3372', '§ 773', '§ 773', '§ 1801', '§ 773', '§ 3373', '§ 3378', '§ 3378', '§ 3378', '§ 3378', '§ 773', '§ 773', '§ 3372', '§ 773', '§ 773', '§ 773', '§ 301', '§ 773']

U.S. v. Cameron | Animal Legal & Historical Center
Full Case Name: U.S. v. Cameron Share
Court Name: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit	Primary Citation: 888 F.2d 1279 (9th Cir. 1989)
Date of Decision: Wednesday, November 8, 1989
Attorneys: Arthur S. Robinson, Robinson, Beiswenger & Ehrhardt, Soldotna, Alaska, for defendant-appellant. Joseph W. Bottini, Asst. U.S. Atty., Anchorage, Alaska, for plaintiff-appellee.
Defendant was a commercial fisherman and conditionally pled guilty to unlawfully acquiring and transporting halibut with market value of more than $350 and knowingly intending to sell illegally taken halibut in violation of Lacey Act after he exceeded the catch limits set by the Pacific Halibut Act. Defendant argued that the Lacey Act criminalized the same civil conduct regulated by the Halibut Act, thereby superseding that federal statute. The court disagreed, finding that the purpose of the Lacey Act was to strengthen existing wildlife laws where the underlying law did not specify exclusive control. The question for decision is whether violating regulations of the International Pacific Halibut Commission ("IPHC" or "Commission") is a proper basis for a criminal prosecution under the Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), 3373(d)(1)(B). If so, we must then decide if promulgating a regulation limiting a day's catch to 20,000 lbs. exceeded the Commission's authority. We conclude that violating the regulation was a sufficient basis for the Lacey Act criminal prosecution here and that the Commission was duly authorized to promulgate the fish limit regulation. Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment of the district court in this appeal by Eugene B. Cameron from a judgment of sentence entered upon a guilty plea conditioned upon the resolution of the two issues presented to us. We will vacate only that portion of the sentence imposing a special assessment.
Jurisdiction was proper in the trial court based on 16 U.S.C. § 3375(c). Jurisdiction on appeal is proper based on 28 U.S.C. § 1291. The appeal was timely filed under Rule 4(b), F.R.App.P. Before proceeding into the facts, it is necessary to explain the purpose of the regulation and the scope of the Lacey Act.
The Northern Pacific Halibut Fishery is regulated by the International Pacific Halibut Commission, pursuant to an international fishing treaty between the United States and Canada. Protocol Amending the Convention for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, United States-Canada, Mar. 29, 1979, 32 U.S.T. 2483 [hereinafter "Protocol"]. Regulations promulgated by the IPHC are adopted by the Secretary of Commerce, pursuant to The Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982, 16 U.S.C. §§ 773-773k. The Halibut Act makes it unlawful for anyone to violate any regulation adopted by the Secretary of Commerce. 16 U.S.C. §§ 773c(b)(1), 773e(a)(1). The Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 3371-3378, federalizes the violation of most independent state, tribal and federal wildlife laws. See, S.Rep. No. 123, 97th Cong., 1st Sess., 4, reprinted in 1981, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1748, 1751.
During 1987, area 3A was open for halibut fishing on three occasions: a 24- hour period from May 4 to May 5, a 24-hour period from June 1 to June 2, and a 24-hour period from September 30 to October 1. All vessels participating in the September 30 halibut opening were limited to a catch size of 20,000 lbs., regardless of the vessel's size or capacity. This regulation was adopted by the Secretary of Commerce and is codified at 50 C.F.R. § 301.9(c) (1987).
16 U.S.C. § 773e(a)(5).
16 U.S.C. § 773f(a).
16 U.S.C. § 773g(a). The Lacey Act, provides:
16 U.S.C. § 3372(a)(1).
The Halibut Act criminalizes certain conduct, but does not criminalize the shipment, transportation, or sale of halibut taken in violation of the Act or any regulation passed pursuant to the Halibut Act. 16 U.S.C. § 773e(a)(5); see 16 U.S.C. 773g(a). Instead, the Act provides for stringent civil penalties. 16 U.S.C. § 773f(a) (civil penalty up to $25,000 per violation). Cameron argues that this indicates that Congress intended to exclude the taking of halibut from any and all criminal penalties.
The government argues, and we agree, that the lack of criminal penalties in the Halibut Act, does not indicate that Congress intended shipment, transportation or sale of halibut, to be free from all criminal consequences. The Lacey Act, amended in 1981, had been in full force for a year before the 1982 Halibut Act was enacted to replace its predecessor statute, the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1937. Had Congress intended that violations of the Halibut Act be exempt from enforcement under the Lacey Act, it could have said so in the Halibut Act, or it could have amended the Lacey Act. Portions of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, are specifically exempted from the Lacey Act. 16 U.S.C. §§ 1801-1882; see United States v. Doubleday, 804 F.2d 1091 (9th Cir.1986) (violations regulated by a Magnuson Fishery Management Plan are not subject to prosecution under the Lacey Act), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1005, 107 S.Ct. 1628, 95 L.Ed.2d 201 (1987). The Halibut Act is silent as to whether the Lacey Act affects Halibut Act penalties.
In addition, the conduct regulated by the penalty section of the Halibut Act is of a different caliber than that regulated by the Lacey Act. Taking halibut in violation of the Halibut Act is a strict liability offense. See 16 U.S.C. § 773e(a)(5). But to violate the Lacey Act, halibut must be taken with scienter or knowledge for the conduct to constitute a criminal offense. 16 U.S.C. § 3373(d)(1)(B). It is reasonable to suggest that Congress may have intended that the less culpable offense of taking halibut, with or without knowledge, be subject to the lesser penalty of civil consequences, than the more culpable crime of taking halibut with knowledge. Offenses requiring proof of actual knowledge generally provide for punishment more severe than strict liability offenses. In any event, the lack of criminal penalties for violating the Halibut Act does not in itself indicate Congressional intent to exculpate such conduct from criminal penalties under other statutes.
Cameron next argues that the disclaimer provision of the Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. § 3378(c)(1), precludes prosecution for conduct governed by the Halibut Act: "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as (1) repealing, superceding, or modifying any provision of Federal law...." He argues that if this court finds the Lacey Act governs his conduct, then the Lacey Act will be "superceding or modifying" the Halibut Act, a provision of federal law.
We need not address this concept anew because we have previously interpreted a portion of the disclaimer provision of the Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. § 3378(c)(2). United States v. Sohappy, 770 F.2d 816 (9th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 477 U.S. 906, 106 S.Ct. 3278, 91 L.Ed.2d 568 (1986). We believe that by analogy the same analysis applies here. In Sohappy a native American was prosecuted under the Lacey Act for violations of tribal fishing laws. The defendant argued that to enforce the Lacey Act against him for this conduct would be to violate the tribe's treaty reserved right to regulate fishing. He contended that this was prohibited by section 3378(c)(2) of the Lacey Act:
16 U.S.C. § 3378(c)(2). We held that the treaty did not reserve to the tribe exclusive jurisdiction to control fishing and that, therefore, the Lacey Act applied to defendant's conduct. The court recognized that the Lacey Act functions to create new offenses for trafficking in fish taken in violation of tribal law.
The disclaimer provision at issue in Sohappy is a subsection of the same Lacey Act section that Cameron argues exempts his conduct. 16 U.S.C. §§ 3378(c)(1), 3378(c)(2). Language of the two subsections of the disclaimer provision is similar, but not identical. The exemption pertaining to tribal law is broader than the exemption pertaining to federal law. But what is important about Sohappy is our court's recognition that two statutes can govern the same conduct, without running afoul of the disclaimer provision of the Lacey Act. See Sohappy, 770 F.2d at 818-20. Sohappy teaches that the Lacey Act and another statute or law, can govern identical conduct and yet have different enforcement provisions. The Lacey Act is not interpreted as "repealing, superceding, or modifying" the other law, unless the other law reserves exclusive control over the conduct at issue. Neither the Halibut Act nor the Protocol reserve exclusive control over halibut fishing. See Protocol, at 2488-89; 16 U.S.C. §§ 773-773k; see also, Doubleday, 804 F.2d at 1094 (the Magnuson Act controls the incidental catch of halibut).
Finally, Cameron argues that because the Lacey Act and the Halibut Act are both penal statutes, and because ambiguity exists in the two statutes, the rule of lenity should apply. And if we apply the lenity doctrine, only the Halibut Act should control defendant's conduct. See Bifulco v. United States, 447 U.S. 381, 100 S.Ct. 2247, 65 L.Ed.2d 205 (1980); Busic v. United States, 446 U.S. 398, 100 S.Ct. 1747, 64 L.Ed.2d 381 (1980). Although Cameron's authorities support his position, the argument must fail because the lenity rule comes into play only when ambiguity is present. We see no ambiguity here. The Halibut Act creates a civil penalty for the strict liability offense of transporting or selling Halibut taken in violation of IPHC regulations. 16 U.S.C. § 773e(a)(5). The Lacey Act criminalizes the intentional violation of certain federal wildlife laws. 16 U.S.C. § 3372(a)(1). The two laws are not ambiguous.
Cameron contends that the right to regulate fishing privileges among United States fishermen belongs to Regional Fishery Management Councils, not to the Halibut Commission. Section 773c(c) of the Halibut Act provides:
The Regional Fishery Management Council having authority for the geographic area concerned may develop regulations governing the United States portion of Convention waters, including limited access regulations ... which are in addition to, and not in conflict with regulations adopted by the Commission .... [As long as] no particular individual, corporation, or other entity acquires an excessive share of the halibut fishing privileges....
16 U.S.C. § 773c(c) (emphasis added). We believe that Cameron misreads the statute.
Section 773c(c) itself anticipates that regulations will be adopted by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. Id. The "Commission" referred to in the text of the Halibut Act is the IPHC. 16 U.S.C. § 773(b). In addition, the Protocol vests the IPHC with the power to:
Protocol, at 2490-91. The limit on this power is that the regulations must be with the approval of the United States and Canada, see 16 U.S.C. § 773b, consistent with the Annex to the Protocol, Protocol, at 2493-2500, and for the purpose of developing the maximum yield of halibut stocks in the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, Protocol, at 2490. The regulation at issue in this case was agreed to by the United States, 50 C.F.R. § 301.9(c) (1987), consistent with the Annex to the Protocol, and was a conservation measure, see S.E.R. at 1-2. Robert McVey, a member of the IPHC, testified that the area trip limit was "purely a conservation measure." Id. at 2.
Cameron's final argument is that even if the IPHC has the authority to regulate halibut fishing, it does not have the authority to regulate the fishing in a way that is unfairly prejudiced against a "particular individual, corporation, or other entity." See 16 U.S.C. § 773c(c) (a statutory provision that pertains only to Regional Fishery Management Councils). Even if we were to hold that the fairness requirement codified in section 773c(c) applies to the IPHC regulations, the 20,000 lb. trip limit provision does not trench upon the fairness concept.
C.A.9 (Alaska),1989.