A federal appeals court in Louisiana has found that members of a Gulf of Mexico fishery council were unconstitutionally selected for their positions, but the judges stopped short of striking down a council plan to curtail the catch of a large saltwater fish.
The ruling issued Friday by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a partial win for a group of commercial fishers of the greater amberjack who had challenged the legality of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and, by extension, sought to block the catch limits.
Because the council’s unconstitutional powers were not used in making its recommendation, the court need not toss out a NOAA Fisheries rule that implemented the catch limits, the panel of 5th Circuit judges found.
The Gulf of Mexico council is one of eight such groups established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to help develop plans and regulations to ensure the health of the nation’s fisheries.
