Opinion ID: 3037886
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: “Safety of Human Life at Sea”

Text: [16] National Standard No. 10 provides that “[c]onservation and management measures shall, to the extent practicable, promote the safety of human life at sea.” 16 U.S.C. § 1851(a)(10). Plaintiffs contend that, by shortening the fishing season, the 2005 management measures unnecessarily obliged fishermen to go to sea regardless of the weather or other dangers. Thus, according to plaintiffs, the management measures did not, “to the extent practicable,” “promote” human safety. [17] The NMFS addressed safety concerns in an April 2005 memorandum commenting on the Council’s recommendations: The proposed action is expected to be neutral with respect to health and safety. The proposed regulations are within the range of annual regulations implemented since adoption of the salmon frame- work plan in 1984 and meet the considerations for weather-related safety and harvest opportunity . . . . Although cursory, this analysis indicates that the NMFS considered National Standard No. 10 and thus discharged its duty under § 1855(a)(10). As stated by the NMFS memorandum, the 2005 management measures do fall within the “range” of measures that have governed fisheries in past years. See, e.g., 56 Fed. Reg. 21311, 21316 (May 8, 1991) (announcing closure of Klamath Management Zone fishery for all but one month). The fact that the measures are “neutral,” and do not affirmatively promote safety, does not mean that they do not promote safety “to the extent practicable.” We conclude that the NMFS did not act arbitrarily and capriciously when it 7418 OREGON TROLLERS v. GUTIERREZ assessed the management measures for compliance with National Standard No. 10.