Opinion ID: 3037886
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: “Importance of Fishery Resources to Fishing

Text: Communities” [14] By its explicit terms, § 1851(a) requires only that FMPs and their implementing regulations be consistent with the “national standards.” The 2005 management measures are “actions,” not “regulations.” For purposes of plaintiffs’ two claims against the 2005 management measures based on national standards set forth in § 1851(a), we assume without deciding that the standards of that section apply to actions taken under regulations implementing FMPs as well as to the regulations themselves. National Standard No. 8 provides that OREGON TROLLERS v. GUTIERREZ 7415 Conservation and management measures shall, consistent with the conservation requirements of this chapter (including the prevention of overfishing and rebuilding of overfished stocks) take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities in order to (A) provide for the sustained participation of such communities, and (B) to the extent practicable, minimize adverse economic impacts on such communities. 16 U.S.C. § 1851(a)(8). Plaintiffs claim that the Council inadequately analyzed the economic impact of its 2005 management measures, and that the NMFS inadequately reviewed the measures for consistency with National Standard No. 8. The regulation implementing National Standard No. 8 provides that an economic analysis must “identify affected fishing communities and then assess their differing levels of dependence and engagement in the fishery being regulated . . . . The analysis should discuss each alternative’s likely effect on the sustained participation of these fishing communities in the fishery.” 50 C.F.R. § 600.345(c)(3). In addition, “[t]he analysis should assess the likely positive and negative social and economic impacts of the alternative management measures, over both the short and the long term, on fishing communities[,]” id. § 600.345(c)(4), as well as “identify those alternatives that would minimize adverse impacts on those fishing communities within the constraints of conservation and management goals of the FMP . . . .” Id. § 600.345(c)(5). In 2004, the Council and the NMFS considered the socioeconomic impact of that year’s proposed management measures and issued a lengthy report titled an “Environmental Assessment.” That assessment discussed various alternatives to measures satisfying the 35,000 natural spawner escapement floor, addressing their short- and long-term impacts on fishing communities. In April 2005, the NMFS concluded that, “[f]or the fisheries to be conducted under the proposed 2005 ocean 7416 OREGON TROLLERS v. GUTIERREZ salmon regulations[,] the analysis from the 2004 [Environmental Assessment] is sufficient to understand the range of options developed and the impacts projected . . . for the 2005 season.” The NMFS’s “Supplemental Finding of No Significant Impact” updated the Environmental Assessment’s conclusions for the 2005 management measures and concluded as follows: The overall 2005 community income impact of the commercial fishery is projected to be $33.7 million, down 28% from the 2004 value of $46.8 million, and 74% below the 1976-1990 average. The overall com- munity income impact of the recreational fishery is projected to be $394 million, down 16% from the 2004 value of $471 million, and 44% below the 1976-1990 average. Community income impacts projected for both the commercial and recreational fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California, are well above the disaster levels of the 1994 season. [15] So long as the agency appropriately updates its analysis under National Standard No. 8, there is no reason why it must start from scratch every year. Compare N.C. Fisheries Ass’n, Inc. v. Daley, 16 F. Supp. 2d 647, 654 (E.D. Va. 1997) (reliance on previous year’s measures without discussion of National Standard No. 8 is improper when the agency had not assessed the previous year’s measures for consistency with the standard). Plaintiffs do not identify data missing from the 2004 and 2005 analyses or explain why the analyses in the record fall short of what the Magnuson Act requires. See Little Bay Lobster Co. v. Evans, 352 F.3d 462, 470 (1st Cir. 2003). “About the best a court can do” when it reviews the NMFS’s performance with respect to National Standard No. 8 “is to ask whether the Secretary has examined the impact of, and alternatives to, the plan he ultimately adopts . . . .” Id. We conclude the that NMFS did not abuse its discretion when it relied on a 2004 analysis, updated for 2005, to review the OREGON TROLLERS v. GUTIERREZ 7417 2005 management measures for consistency with National Standard No. 8.