Opinion ID: 793415
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: turtle island's claims and the district court proceedings

Text: 19 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). 20 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 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]. 21 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, 117 S.Ct. 1154, 137 L.Ed.2d 281 (1997). However, Turtle Island brought its ESA claim under the APA. See id. at 175, 117 S.Ct. 1154 (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. 22 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. 23 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.