January 2, 2025
Portland, Maine – A federal court gave hardworking fishermen a partial victory against rogue bureaucrats this week, declaring that a key regulatory body is unconstitutional in critical respects.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine ruled that the New England Fishery Management Council violates the Constitution because its unelected, unaccountable members can override elected officials – even the President – when crafting regulatory plans. However, the court then “severed” the override power, protecting the council and its suffocating regulations.
“NEFSA is pleased that the court agreed there are constitutional problems with the council,” said NEFSA CEO Jerry Leeman. “But this is only a partial victory. The court rewrote the statute to salvage the regulations that are driving fishermen off the water and decimating our coastal communities. NEFSA is carefully considering an appeal.”
As NEFSA explained in its motion for summary judgment, the New England Fishery Management Council wields almost unchecked power over fishermen in five states. Despite its significant authority, council members are not appointed by the president or alternatively by a cabinet secretary, as the Constitution requires. Stranger still, some members sit on the council by virtue of their position as state bureaucrats or thanks to substantial input from state governors. Finally, council members cannot be removed at will, even by the president.
Working people always lose when bureaucrats answer to no one. Commercial fishermen know this better than anyone. The continued viability of New England’s iconic fleet is in doubt because regulations are picking the pockets of hardworking fishermen and deterring young people from following their forebearers into the iconic trade.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine is now the third federal court to identify constitutional defects with the fishery management councils established in the Magnuson Stevens Act. Against this backdrop, NEFSA hopes the incoming administration will relax regulations for working fishermen. These Frankenstein commissions should not be trusted with the care of America’s historic and abundant fisheries.
The case is NEFSA v. Raimondo.