Opinion ID: 420008
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the declaratory relief issue

Text: 37 Except for the violation of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 672(i) discussed above, none of Western Pioneer's vessels were formally charged with violating the manning statutes, 46 U.S.C. Secs. 672 and 673, pertaining to all merchant vessels. The statutes are only in issue because on May 19, 1981, when it boarded the Bowfin, the Coast Guard notified Western Pioneer of its intention to enforce the statutes in the future. Western Pioneer sought declaratory relief from the statutes, which was denied by the district court. 38 We affirm the district court's denial of declaratory relief, but we want to make clear the limited nature of our holding. As mentioned above, the Coast Guard stipulated that Western Pioneer's vessels are properly characterized as tenders so long as they carry directly fisheries related cargo. Because we have decided the Marlin and Dolphin were not carrying directly fisheries related cargo on the voyages in question, they were not tenders on those voyages. For the reasons expressed in our discussion of Sec. 672(i), we affirm the denial of declaratory judgment to the extent it declares that when Western Pioneer's vessels are not operating as tenders, they are subject to all the requirements of Secs. 672 and 673 pertaining to merchant vessels. We are not prepared to say, however, that when Western Pioneer properly operates a tender service it must conform to Secs. 672 and 673. We do not read the district court's order as having decided that question, and we likewise do not feel the need to decide it on this record. 3 V. ESTOPPEL 39 According to Western Pioneer, the Coast Guard should be estopped from enforcing the inspection and manning statutes because Western Pioneer has spent large sums converting its vessels in specific reliance on the 1968 tender exemptions, and has operated for several years without challenge by the Coast Guard. While we recognize that estoppel is an appropriate defense against the government in certain limited circumstances, see, e.g., Johnson v. Williford, 682 F.2d 868 (9th Cir.1982), we do not view this as a proper case for estoppel because Western Pioneer's reliance was unjustified. See Northern Life Insurance Co. v. United States, 685 F.2d 277, 279 (9th Cir.1982) (requiring reasonable reliance). 40 Western Pioneer has been in business only since 1972, and from 1972-1975 it operated a single vessel, the 188-ton Dawson, which it registered for fishing and freight. In October 1975 the 483-ton Marlin commenced service. The Coast Guard first attempted to enforce the inspection statutes against the Marlin three months later in January 1976, when it initiated the license revocation proceedings discussed above. In those proceedings both the Coast Guard Commandant and the National Transportation Safety Board agreed with the Coast Guard's construction of the tender vessel exemption. 41 Although on that occasion the Coast Guard did not attempt to enforce the manning statutes (it did one year later when it boarded the Marlin and Dolphin and initiated these proceedings), Western Pioneer should have been on notice that it could not reasonably rely on Coast Guard nonenforcement. If it proceeded to purchase and convert vessels in reliance on the tender vessel exemptions, it did so at its own risk.