Opinion ID: 3036324
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: longline fishing and the reopening of the

Text: SWORDFISH FISHERY This dispute concerns the longline fishing of swordfish and its impact on endangered sea turtles and two species of migratory seabird, the black-footed and Laysan albatross. Longline fishing involves the use of vessels that trail mainlines up to sixty miles long. These mainlines are set horizontally near the water’s surface and generally contain over a thousand baited hooks. In the course of fishing for swordfish, other species, including sea turtles and seabirds, can become hooked or “incidentally caught.” This method of fishing swordfish has been particularly controversial because it results in more incidental catches than other types of longline fishing because of the specific gear and techniques used, the shallower depth at which the longlines are set, and the time of day the fishing takes place. TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION v. USDOC 1797 On April 2, 2004, NMFS promulgated a final rule (“2004 Regulations”) implementing a Fishery Management Plan amendment recommended by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (“Western Pacific Council”), which is responsible for fisheries in Hawaii. 16 U.S.C. § 1852(a)(1)(H). The 2004 Regulations reopened the swordfish fishery, which had been closed by previous regulations. See Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific, 69 Fed. Reg. at 17,330. The 2004 Regulations also restricted the types of bait and hooks that could be used for swordfish fishing to minimize the adverse impacts on sea turtles. Id. Regulation of the longline fishing of swordfish has been the subject of extensive litigation. In fact, the 2004 Regulations were adopted after previous regulations, which prohibited the longline fishing of swordfish (the “2002 Regulations”), and the related biological opinion were vacated and remanded to NMFS by court order. See Hawaii Longline Ass’n v. Nat’l Marine Fisheries Serv., 281 F. Supp. 2d 1, 38 (D.D.C. 2003).1 The 2002 Regulations prohibited the longline fishing of swordfish due to its impact on endangered sea turtles. Following the 2003 court order, NMFS commenced the formal rulemaking process that led to the current regulations.2 NMFS had first published a Notice of Intent in December 2003 announcing an “accelerated management action sched- 1 Both Turtle Island and the Hawaii Longline Association were parties to this litigation. The issuance and subsequent vacating of the 2002 Regulations are discussed at length in the court’s decision in Hawaii Longline Association. 2 The court stayed the mandate until April 1, 2004, in order to provide NMFS with reasonable time in which to “issue a new biological opinion,” and if necessary, “to issue notice under the APA and promulgate regulations amending the Pelagics [Fishery Management Plan].” Hawaii Longline Ass’n v. Nat’l Marine Fisheries Serv., 288 F. Supp. 2d 7, 13 (D.D.C. 2003). Until April 1, 2004, the 2002 Regulations “effectively govern[ed] the Fishery’s activities. Id. 1798 TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION v. USDOC ule [that] is necessary to avoid a lapse in sea turtle conservation measures after the June 12, 2002 final rule is vacated on April 1, 2004.” Under this accelerated schedule, NMFS would issue two separate supplemental Environmental Impact Statements (“SEISs”)—one addressing the fishery’s potential impact on threatened sea turtle populations, to be completed first, and another addressing “issues . . . such as seabird interactions,” to be completed later. Notice of Intent, 68 Fed. Reg. 67,640, 67,641 (Dec. 3, 2003). Upon the recommendation of the Western Pacific Council, in January 2004, NMFS published a proposed rule that would “eliminate the prohibition on longline fishing . . . during April and May,” and require the use of certain bait and hook combinations to reduce sea turtle interactions. See Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific, 69 Fed. Reg. 4098, 4098 (proposed Jan. 28, 2004). The proposed rule announced that the consultation process mandated by Section 7 of the ESA was “currently underway,” and that the rule itself “might be revised, as necessary, to comport with . . . the biological opinion.” In addition, the proposed rule indicated that in accordance with NEPA, “the [Western Pacific] Council and NMFS prepared a draft [SEIS] . . . for this regulatory amendment . . . scheduled to be filed . . . in mid-January 2004” for comments. Id. at 4101. The Western Pacific Council held a public hearing in February 2004 to receive comments regarding the draft SEIS, Notice of Public Hearing on Draft SEIS, 69 Fed. Reg. 7188, 7188 (Feb. 13, 2004), and another public hearing in March 2004 regarding the Fishery Management Plan amendment, Notice of Public Meetings, 69 Fed. Reg. 11,361, 11,361 (Mar. 10, 2004). NMFS issued a biological opinion in February 2004, which concluded that reopening the swordfish fishery to allow a limited number of sets per year would not likely jeopardize the continued existence of any ESA listed species, provided that certain bait and hook combinations were used. The biological opinion also included an Incidental Take Statement authorizTURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION v. USDOC 1799 ing the fishery to take up to sixteen leatherback and seventeen loggerhead sea turtles. See Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific, 69 Fed. Reg. at 17,331. In early March 2004, the Western Pacific Council issued a “Regulatory Amendment to the Fishery Management Plan” and a “Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement” (“Final SEIS”), which supplemented the earlier 2001 EIS (issued before the 2002 Regulations) and assessed various alternatives. The Western Pacific Council recommended that NMFS allow 2,120 swordfish sets to be made annually and require the use of certain types of hooks and other new technologies “shown to reduce and mitigate interactions with sea turtles.” The Final SEIS focused primarily on the impact of renewed swordfish fishing on endangered sea turtles and said relatively little about the potential impact on seabirds.3 This approach was apparently deliberate, as NMFS was motivated by the need to implement new regulations by the court-imposed deadline of April 1, 2004. See Notice of Intent, 68 Fed. Reg. at 67,641. On March 30, 2004, NMFS signed a Record of Decision authorizing the reopening of the swordfish fishery: “The main element of this action is to establish a swordfish fishery of limited scale that will permit environmentally responsible shallow-set swordfish longlining while minimizing impacts on protected species of sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean.” The “seabird” SEIS was not issued until May 2005, after Turtle 3 As part of its seabird discussion, the Western Pacific Council proposed continuing measures that had been recommended in 2000 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but had not been implemented due to the closure of the swordfish fishery in 2001. These avoidance measures included mandatory setting of lines at night to reduce bait visibility and the use of certain kinds of bait. 1800 TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION v. USDOC Island commenced this suit. See Seabird Interaction Mitigation Methods, 70 Fed. Reg. 24,037, 24,038 (May 6, 2005).4 Turtle Island participated in the formal rulemaking process before the 2004 Regulations were issued. In a detailed comment letter submitted in February 2004, Turtle Island opined that “the proposed regulations are completely unlawful. Substantively, they violate the ESA . . . [and] MBTA . . . while procedurally the [draft EIS] is inadequate under NEPA.” III. TURTLE ISLAND’S CLAIMS AND THE DISTRICT COURT PROCEEDINGS On August 30, 2004, approximately five months after publication of the 2004 Regulations, Turtle Island filed suit in the District of Hawaii seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Turtle Island did not seek relief under the Magnuson Act, but instead alleged that NMFS violated three other statutes, NEPA, MBTA, and ESA, when it reopened the swordfish fishery. As the jurisdictional basis for its suit, Turtle Island invoked 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question); 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-02 (declaratory judgment and further relief); and 5 U.S.C. § 706 (the judicial review provision of the APA). The essence of Turtle Island’s challenge is set out in its first and second claims for relief, which allege that NMFS violated NEPA and MBTA by “issuing an amended Fishery Management Plan for the Pelagic fisheries of the Western Pacific Region reopening the swordfish fishery and eliminating the partial ban on tuna longlining,5 by issuing a Record of 4 In its submissions on appeal, NMFS represents that it is “currently preparing a proposed rule, based on this SEIS, to adjust the seabird mitigation requirements for the Western Pacific longline fisheries.” 5 In addition to reopening the swordfish fishery, the 2004 Regulations also eliminated the seasonal ban on the longline fishing of tuna in areas south of the Hawaiian Islands. On appeal, however, Turtle Island’s submissions focus exclusively on the reopening of the swordfish fishery. Thus, our discussion focuses on the sections of the 2004 Regulations that address swordfishing. TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION v. USDOC 1801 Decision on or about March 30, 2004 to do so, and by issuing regulations implementing those regulations effective April 2, 2004 . . . in the absence of an adequate [EIS] prepared in accordance with applicable procedures . . . [and] in the absence of a valid permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allowing the take of migratory birds by the longline fishery . . . .” Turtle Island’s third claim for relief alleges that NMFS’s issuance of the Incidental Take Statement violated the ESA because it permits takings of sea turtles in the course of “[l]ongline fishing by the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific [which] is unlawful, in that it violates [NEPA and MBTA].” The judicial review provision of the APA is the vehicle for each of Turtle Island’s claims. 5 U.S.C. § 702. Neither NEPA nor MBTA authorize a private right of action. By contrast, the ESA contains a citizen suit provision, 16 U.S.C. § 1540(g), whereby “private parties may enforce the substantive provisions of the ESA . . . .” Bennett v. Spear, 520 U.S. 154, 173 (1997). However, Turtle Island brought its ESA claim under the APA. See id. at 175 (holding that under § 7 of the ESA, claims can be brought pursuant to the APA). Although the APA itself contains no specific statute of limitations, a general six-year civil action statute of limitation applies to challenges under the APA. 28 U.S.C. § 2401(a) (“[E]very civil action commenced against the United States shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within six years after the right of action first accrues.”); Sierra Club v. Penfold, 857 F.2d 1307, 1315 (9th Cir. 1988) (holding that § 2401(a) applies to the APA). Turtle Island contends that this general six-year limit, not the thirty-day provision of the Magnuson Act, applies to its claims. Turtle Island’s complaint requests a declaratory judgment that NMFS violated various statutes and an injunction to stop all longline fishing of swordfish until NMFS complies with the APA, NEPA, MBTA, and ESA. 1802 TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION v. USDOC The district court granted NMFS’s motion to dismiss and denied Turtle Island’s motion for a preliminary injunction. The district court determined that its “jurisdiction in this matter turn[ed] on whether [Turtle Island’s] claims are accurately characterized as violations of various environmental statutes, or if . . . [they] are actually attacking the regulation promulgated pursuant to the MSA, thus implicating the [thirty-day] time bar of 16 U.S.C. 1855(f).” The court concluded that Turtle Island’s claims all “flow from the reopening of the Fishery pursuant to a properly promulgated amendment to the [Fishery Management Plan]. Therefore, judicial review is limited under 16 U.S.C. § 1855(f) and this Court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate this matter.”