Opinion ID: 3033437
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 2001 and 2002 Limits for Darkblotched

Text: Rockfish The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery is one of the fisheries the Agency oversees, covering the bottom-feeding fish species dwelling in the waters off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. In 2000, the Agency assessed the status of one species of Pacific groundfish within the fishery — darkblotched rockfish. It found that the species was at 22% of its unfished population level (its predicted level absent any fishing), and therefore concluded that the species was “overfished” within the meaning of the Act. 66 Fed. Reg. 2,347, 2349-50 (Jan. 11, 2001). The Agency further concluded that the species could be rebuilt in 10 years or less, triggering § 1854(e)(4)(ii)’s mandatory requirement that the rebuilding take place within 10 years. The Agency then set a 130 metric ton “fishing harvest level,” or quota, i.e., a set limit of darkblotched rockfish that could be fished in 2001. In 2001, the Agency updated its assessment of darkblotched rockfish and concluded that it had significantly overestimated the health of the species. The Agency now estimated that the species was almost twice as depleted as previously thought — it was at only 12% of its unfished population level. In the Agency’s calculations, rebuilding therefore could not be accomplished within 10 years; the minimum period for rebuilding was now 14 years. This increased rebuilding time meant, by necessity, that the rebuilding plan was no longer limited by § 1854(e)(4)(ii)’s mandatory 10-year cap; instead, the only applicable statutory time limit was § 1854(e)(4)(i)’s command that the rebuilding period be “as short as possible.” Further, according to the interpretation of the Act set forth in the 1998 NSG, the revised minimum rebuilding period triggered a new ceiling that was the 14-year period plus “one mean generation time,” NATURAL RESOURCES v. NAT’L MARINE FISHERIES 11417 which in the case of the long-lived darkblotched rockfish was 33 years. The Agency, in short, switched from operating under the statutory constraint of 10 years rebuilding time to a new constraint, dictated by the 1998 NSG, of 47 years. The Agency then set a “target” rebuilding time of 34 years, and in accordance with this target, raised the fishing level harvest for 2002 from the previous year’s 130 metric tons to 168 metric tons.4 NRDC brought suit alleging that the new quota violated the Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The district court concluded that the quota violated none of these statutes and granted summary judgment for the Agency. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc. v. Nat’l Marine Fisheries Serv., 280 F.Supp. 2d 1007, 1014-15 (N.D. Cal. 2003). C. The Agency’s 2002 Specifications for Three Other Groundfish Species The Agency also set 2002 quotas for three other overfished groundfish species — bocaccio, cowcod and canary rockfish — that were identical to the levels set in 2001, despite evidence that fishing of these overfished species in the prior two years had been significantly higher than that allowed by the previous year’s quotas. The Agency reasoned that because it did not have newly available data as to the status of these species (owing to its policy of conducting stock assessments every three years), its response to the evidence of overfishing would be to put in place interim measures (such as establishing no-fishing zones in certain areas), and then to set new quotas once the next assessment was completed. NRDC charged that the Agency’s failure to adjust the quo- 4 The new quota meant only that the “target rebuilding time” had even odds of being reached; it had a 70% chance of being reached within the outer limit of 47 years. 67 Fed. Reg. 10,491 (Mar. 7, 2002). 11418 NATURAL RESOURCES v. NAT’L MARINE FISHERIES tas violated the Act, APA and NEPA. The district court also granted the Agency summary judgment on these claims. 280 F.Supp. 2d at 1017-1018.