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97-597: United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins (520 F.3d 976) is a 2008 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concerning civil forfeiture in admiralty law . Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for a three-judge panel that ordered that the shark fins be returned to their owners, reversing a decision by the Southern District of California . The government did not appeal

194-495: A U.S. port, but they do not provide notice that such vessels are prohibited from possessing fins for the purpose of making a delivery to a foreign port." He also noted that the preamble had language stating it was not the NMFS's intent to interfere with international trade . "Under the circumstances, a reasonable person would not have fair notice that the activities of the KD II would render it

291-473: A company's seafood products, a National Seafood Inspection Program officer issues and signs the certificates required to accompany U.S. seafood exports to countries that require health certification. The program also develops product grade standards, specifications, and international policies, and provides training and education within the industry and for consumers. NOAA Fisheries has placed trained fishery observers aboard commercial fishing vessels to collect

388-538: A federal law enforcement agency, working closely with state enforcement agencies, the United States Coast Guard , and foreign enforcement authorities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement is based in Silver Spring, Maryland . The NMFS regulatory program is one of the most active in the federal government, with hundreds of regulations published annually in

485-514: A fishing vessel under [the statute]. As a result, we hold that the district court's application of the possession prohibition of the SFPA to the KD II as a fishing vessel ... violated due process." Within a month of the decision, Madeleine Bordallo , Delegate from Guam , introduced the Shark Conservation Act in the U.S. House to close the loophole highlighted by the decision. It eliminated

582-429: A fishing vessel." He read the text of the statute closely to show where Moskowitz had erred. Indeed, the ship had "refrigerate[d], store[d] and transport[ed]" the fins, but the governing words were "aid and assist". Reinhardt cited dictionary definitions of both words as "generally connot[ing] doing an act for the benefit of another." He explained at length why the purchase of an item does not constitute aid or assistance to

679-582: A mandate to that effect in its report to the House of Representatives . "Thus, the legislative history confirms that the SFPA applies to the KD II and its possession of 64,695 pounds of shark fins", wrote Moskowitz. Lastly, Tai Loong had argued, even if the KD II was a fishing vessel under the statute, the interplay between two sections of the SFPA and its implementing regulations rendered them unconstitutionally vague , making it impossible for it to easily determine whether

776-414: A preconstruction engineering geology study because it was a U.S. government complex." A 1979 book on coastal erosion reported that the building was "disastrously located. The ‘Tuna Hilton’ rests partially on a piece of bluff known as a slump block. Designers say the building is specially articulated so that it should stay intact as the bluff falls from underneath its seaward end." ) In 2016, the NMFS caused

873-483: A report showing that the number of U.S. fish stocks subject to overfishing was at an all-time low in 2019—93 percent were not subject to overfishing. NOAA Fisheries works with U.S. government agencies and foreign governments to implement domestic and international policies and plans for addressing illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in United States waters and internationally. NOAA Fisheries works with

970-456: A result, while the district court's assumption that the seller would benefit from the location of particular sales appears reasonable, it is irrelevant. While the court recognized Congress's intent to curtail and eventually eliminate shark finning by passing the SFPA, "the broad purpose of the Act provides no help to the government with regard to the issue on appeal," Reinhardt wrote. He turned finally to

1067-528: A separate reporter, Federal Cases . The fourth and current Federal Reporter series publishes decisions of the United States courts of appeals and the United States Court of Federal Claims ; prior series had varying scopes that covered decisions of other federal courts as well. Though the Federal Reporter is an unofficial reporter and West is a private company that does not have a legal monopoly over

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1164-540: A separate reporter, the Federal Supplement . The Federal Reporter organizes court opinions within each volume by the date of the decision, and includes the full official text of the court's opinion. West editors add headnotes that summarize key principles of law in the cases, and Key Numbers that classify the decisions by topic within the West American Digest System . Only decisions designated by

1261-494: A stock is overfished, measuring the maximum sustainable yield . If a stock is designated as overfished, annual catch limits need to be low enough to allow stocks to rebuild. Worldwide, about one-third of fish stocks are being fished at biologically unsustainable levels. NOAA Fisheries has been successful at ending overfishing in U.S. waters, and science-based management has resulted in 47 once-overfished U.S. fish stocks being declared rebuilt. In July 2020, NOAA Fisheries published

1358-417: A variety of data on catch, bycatch, and fishing operations since the 1970s. Fishery observers are trained biologists who collect data on fishing activities onboard commercial vessels in support of science and management programs. They collect a variety of data including catch, bycatch, fishing effort, biological characteristics, interactions with protected species, and socioeconomic information. This information

1455-944: Is a party, such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission , the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas , the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission , the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program , the International Pacific Halibut Commission , etc. In 2007, the NMFS issued regulations to protect endangered whales from fatal fishing-gear entanglements after environmental groups sued to force action on

1552-985: Is headquartered in Honolulu , Hawaii, on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Monoa. It operates several facilities, including facilities for NOAA ships at Ford Island . The Southeast Fisheries Science Center is headquartered in Miami , Florida, and monitors marine fisheries in the American Southeast, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands . It additionally operates five labs, some of which operate multiple facilities. The Southwest Fisheries Science Center, headquartered in La Jolla , California, monitors and advises fisheries in NOAA's Southwest region. It operates facilities on

1649-428: Is used by NOAA Fisheries to perform stock assessments, construct fishery management plan regulations, develop bycatch reduction devices, and identify the need for protective regulations for protected species. Observer programs across the United States are engaging in cross-sector partnerships to explore the potential of electronic monitoring to augment observer programs in a cost-efficient manner. The NMFS also serves as

1746-613: The Federal Register . Most regulations are published to conserve marine fisheries under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; other regulations are published under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act. The NMFS also regulates fisheries pursuant to decisions of "regional fishery management organizations" (RFMOs) (RFMOs) and other RFMOs to which the U.S.

1843-464: The House of Representatives from American Samoa , had expressed concerns about the lack of language barring vessels from engaging in transshipment of fins, such as purchasing those taken by other vessels on the high seas. To stop this, he introduced an amendment to the bill banning the possession of the fins without the carcasses by fishing vessels, as defined in the Magnuson–Stevens Act, and

1940-569: The Joint Interagency Task Force West , a consortium of various federal law enforcement agencies, for permission to investigate further, since smugglers and drug traffickers were known to use that route. After receiving permission to do so, the Coast Guard boarded the KD II . The stench of decaying flesh quickly led them to a large quantity of shark fins. They were in bundles on the deck, the shipping container and filling most of

2037-493: The KD II had arranged to meet fishing vessels at predetermined locations and buy various quantities of fins. These activities were believed to violate the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 (SFPA). The fins were thus seized and the ship escorted to San Diego , the nearest American port. Federal agencies filed charges against the KD II ' s owner, operator and captain. They further sought forfeiture of

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2134-403: The KD II had at the time of its interdiction, but Moskowitz responded that the use of "any" indicated a broader reach. The bill's legislative history showed that Congress had intended that broad reach. Senator Ernest Hollings had, in opposing the bill, worried that it might bar American ships from the shark fin trade entirely. The Congressional Budget Office had found that the bill enacted

2231-464: The KD II to San Diego . Along the way the investigation continued. The Coast Guard reported that the four-man crew was cooperative with the investigation, largely sitting back and watching television in the lounge. Since they claimed not to have finned the sharks themselves, they believed they had not done anything wrong. Ship's records revealed that the KD II had met fishing vessels, primarily Korean longline fishing boats, at prearranged locations on

2328-423: The KD II was engaged in fishing and therefore a fishing vessel because, under its previous ownership, it had been equipped with longline equipment and held a federal permit. That had lapsed shortly after Tran and Yu bought the ship and was no longer valid, so neither was the argument based on paper. "Whether the KD II is in fact a fishing vessel under [the first definition] depends on its configuration and how it

2425-602: The Senate , where it was sponsored by John Kerry of Massachusetts . It was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation . No further action was taken before the 110th Congress adjourned, and the bill died. Bordallo reintroduced it, as amended, at the beginning of the next Congress . It gained 30 cosponsors, bypassed the committee stage and was passed by voice vote in March 2009. Kerry reintroduced it in

2522-400: The Southern District of California , who granted an injunction against NOAA prohibiting it from selling the fins itself. The company and the agency then agreed that, in return for the former putting up a $ 775,000 bond, that it would take possession of the shark fins, although they remained in cold storage pending the outcome of the case. Tai Loong presold the fins for an amount almost equal to

2619-612: The United States Department of State to evaluate international fisheries and identify vessels that have engaged in IUU fishing activities. If a nation is identified to have involvement in IUU fishing, NOAA Fisheries and the Department of State initiate a two-year consultation process to encourage that nation to take necessary measures to address the specific issue. NOAA Fisheries then determines whether to negatively or positively certify

2716-757: The United States Department of the Interior . The Bureau of Fisheries merged with the Bureau of Biological Survey in 1940 to become the Fish and Wildlife Service, still under the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 1956, the Fish and Wildlife Service underwent a reorganization and became the United States Fish and Wildlife Service . The 1956 reorganization established two components of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, which focused primarily on commercial fisheries, whales, seals, and sea lions; and

2813-509: The 40-ton (36-tonne) hold , where the ammonia odor was so strong that the Coast Guardsman who found them had to breathe through his mouth since it burned his nose. Since no corresponding carcasses could be found, the task force told the boarding party that this indicated a likely violation of the SFPA, and to consider the ship a crime scene as the fins were contraband . Two days later, the Coast Guard cutter Chase took over, escorting

2910-431: The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, which focused on migratory birds, game management, wildlife refuges, sport fisheries, and sea mammals, excluding those managed under the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. In 1970, President Richard Nixon transferred the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and almost all its functions from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the Department of Commerce. Simultaneous with its transfer,

3007-545: The Canadian necropsy concluded the barb caused a lethal fungal infection. Prior to L95's tagging, Center for Whale Research Senior Scientist Ken Balcomb documented tag detachment issues and was assured by the NMFS that these issues were "fixed", but the tag on L95 broke off and pieces of the barb remained in L95 until death. Although Balcomb documented infections where barbs had failed to detach on killer whales and presented his findings to

United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins - Misplaced Pages Continue

3104-475: The MSA is the primary law governing marine fisheries conservation and management in U.S. federal waters. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for fisheries management of waters in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, typically 3–200 miles from land. NOAA Fisheries manages 461 stocks or stock complexes in 46 fishery management plans, using stock assessments to determine their status. Under the MSA, fisheries management decisions in

3201-859: The Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Program of NOAA's NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, Protected Resources Division, carried out the mandates of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and was charged with protecting the whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals and sea turtles that occur within the greater Atlantic region. This program currently includes marine mammal health and stranding response, large whale disentanglement, and sea turtle stranding and disentanglement. To implement this program, NMFS established several networks of volunteer organizations that it authorizes to respond to stranded marine mammals and sea turtles and entangled large whales and sea turtles. NMFS seeks

3298-510: The Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and off the coasts of Mexico, Texas, Florida, and Cuba. The commission's scientists collected marine invertebrate and fish species, made hydrographic surveys, and studied fish populations. In 1903, the U.S. Fish Commission was reorganized and named the Bureau of Fisheries. In 1939, the Bureau of Fisheries and its functions were transferred to

3395-534: The NMFS regulations implementing the SFPA. "The prohibition of landing shark fins without corresponding carcasses extends to any vessel (including a cargo or shipping vessel) that obtained those fins from another vessel at sea", their preamble read. "Any such at-sea transfer of shark fins effectively would make the receiving vessel a 'fishing vessel,' as the receiving vessel is acting 'in support of fishing.'" Tai Loong had claimed that language applied only to vessels landing shark fins, and not just those possessing them as

3492-509: The NMFS, the NMFS site read years later in October 2016, "Our experience with previous occurrences of tag attachment failure has shown no impact to the whale’s general health." Though ocean water could enter the wound and whale skin is not sterile, the NMFS stated the fungal infection may have occurred because the barbed tag was dropped in the ocean and was sterilized with only alcohol, rather than both alcohol and bleach, prior to being aimed again at

3589-404: The SFPA, the fins could not have been lawfully seized on the high seas. In 2011, President Barack Obama signed the Shark Conservation Act into law, which closed these loopholes . China's late-20th-century economic reforms produced a middle class that increased demand for traditional luxury items like shark fins. Chinese traditional medicine ascribes various restorative and healing effects to

3686-566: The SFPA. He did not grant the forfeiture as NOAA had not moved for it yet. The SFPA deferred to the Magnuson–Stevens Act for its definition of a fishing vessel. According to that statute, a fishing vessel was one that either engaged in fishing, or "aiding or assisting one or more vessels at sea in the performance of any activity relating to fishing, including, but not limited to, preparation, supply, storage, refrigeration, transportation, or processing." Moskowitz rejected NOAA's argument that

3783-549: The Second Circuit has also ruled that Lexis can copy the page numbers from the Federal Reporter to allow for proper citation without violating West's copyright. National Marine Fisheries Service Founded in 1871 as the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the National Marine Fisheries Service is the oldest federal conservation and environmental research agency in the United States. The commission

3880-618: The Senate a month later; it eventually gained 33 cosponsors there. The Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard held hearings on the bill in June. The Senate report, by Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia , reiterated that "The bill would clarify in statute what was already popularly understood to be the scope of application of the SFPA" prior to the case, but did not otherwise make any commentary regarding it. A group of shark attack survivors visited senators' offices to lobby for

3977-561: The U.S. Supreme Court are published in one official reporter and two unofficial reporters, which are, respectively, the United States Reports , Supreme Court Reports (a National Reporter System member published by West), and the United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition . Beginning in 1932, West stopped publishing federal district court cases in the Federal Reporter and began to publish them in

United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins - Misplaced Pages Continue

4074-416: The United States are made primarily by eight regional fishery management councils. These councils may include representatives from state government agencies, academia, the fishing industry and environmental nonprofits, as well as representatives from NOAA Fisheries. These councils serve as regulatory advisors that make region-specific recommendations to NOAA Fisheries, who implements the regulations. The MSA

4171-523: The administrative division of fisheries management into five regions, with the west coast utilizing two fisheries science centers. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center is headquartered in Woods Hole , Massachusetts. It operates laboratories at five other locations, and an additional marine field station. Its primary mission is the management of fisheries on the Northeast shelf . However, it also oversees

4268-598: The bill in July. It was passed near the end of the year and signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011. Federal Reporter#Federal Reporter, Third Series The Federal Reporter ( ISSN   1048-3888 ) is a case law reporter in the United States that is published by West Publishing and a part of the National Reporter System . It begins with cases decided in 1880; pre-1880 cases were later retroactively compiled by West Publishing into

4365-473: The campus of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography . In 2013, a large facility on La Jolla Shores Drive was built by the architects Gould Evans, replacing an older building that was threatened by coastal erosion . (Although the original architects, 50 years earlier, had been informed that they were building on a "block-glide landslide," they received exemption "from local building code requirements for

4462-498: The case further. The case began in 2002 when a Coast Guard crew working from a Navy ship stopped and searched the King Diamond II , a U.S.- flagged , Hong Kong –based vessel in international waters off the coast of Guatemala . On board the ship they found shark fins, equivalent to 32.3 tons (29.3 tonnes) but without any corresponding shark carcasses. The Coast Guard, upon further investigation, found documentary evidence that

4559-476: The case. After oral arguments in May 2007, they announced their decision ten months later, in March 2008. Unanimously, they reversed Moskowitz and ruled that the KD II was not a fishing vessel, therefore the fins had not been lawfully seized. "In this case," wrote Reinhardt, "we find nothing in the plain meaning of [the statute] that would provide notice to the owners of the KD II that its activities would render it

4656-407: The court decision in this case." In June the subcommittee met to mark up the bill. Bordallo's amendment tightening the language prohibiting vessel transport of fins was passed by voice vote . A week later the full committee, after adding an amendment by Faleomavaega requiring that fins be attached to the carcasses, sent the bill to the full House. In July it was passed by voice vote and referred to

4753-547: The court opinions it publishes, it has so dominated the industry in the United States that legal professionals, including judges, uniformly cite to the Federal Reporter for included decisions. Approximately 30 new volumes are published each year. The Federal Reporter has always published decisions only from federal courts lower than the Supreme Court of the United States , but not the Supreme Court itself. Decisions of

4850-570: The courts as "for publication—those with full precedential value for which citation in court filings is permissible—are included in the Federal Reporter . "Unpublished" decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals may be found in the Federal Appendix , also published by West. New opinions are first issued by West in weekly pamphlets called "Advance Sheets", to be eventually supplanted by the final hardbound, successively numbered volumes. Three series of Federal Reporter have been published to date, with

4947-413: The death of the L95 killer whale of the critically endangered southern resident population. This population travels along the coast of both the United States and Canada, and Canada does not use barbed satellite tags to track them because the method is invasive, but the NMFS made the unilateral decision to tag southern resident orcas. The L95 whale died 5 weeks after being shot with a barbed satellite tag and

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5044-446: The fine against it. NOAA then initiated a civil forfeiture action with the bond substituting for the fins. In 2004 the government went before Moskowitz seeking summary judgement . The case turned on whether the KD II was a fishing vessel under the SFPA. Early in 2005 he issued his ruling, holding that while it was not directly engaged in fishing it was nevertheless engaging in activities supporting fishing and thus also subject to

5141-501: The fins constituted an activity in support of fishing, pointing out that that would make into a fishing vessel any ship where someone aboard purchased a single fin for personal use. But in this case the KD II and its crew had acted as a middleman, "effectively br[inging] the shark fin market to the foreign fishing vessels at sea. This act, in and of itself, aided and assisted the foreign fishing vessels which no longer had to store, transport, and land their shark fins in order to sell them in

5238-399: The fins had been bought; and Chien Tan Nguyen, captain of the KD II , with 26 counts of violating the SFPA. They were assessed fines of $ 620,000, the highest civil penalty ever levied for a violation of the act. Tai Loong believed that the government had exceeded its statutory authority by confiscating the fins. It argued that before Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz , a federal district judge for

5335-527: The fins under in rem jurisdiction , resulting in the unusual case title. Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz granted the order in 2005. The boat's owners appealed to the Ninth Circuit, which reversed Moskowitz's decision three years later. It held that the seizure was illegal: the KD II ' s activities did not meet the definition of a fishing vessel under the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act . Since it did not, under

5432-458: The fins were out on deck in an attempt to dry them out and reduce the odor. In San Diego, the fins were unloaded and weighed. It took a crew of eight seven hours to unload all the fins, most of which had been tied into 2-by-3-foot (60 by 90 cm) bundles weighing roughly 100 pounds (40 kg) each. They were put on trucks to be secured in a cold-storage facility as evidence pending the outcome of any legal proceedings. At 32.3 tons (29.3 tonnes),

5529-652: The fins, and the soup is considered a delicacy, costing as much as US$ 100 per bowl. The Chinese demand for fins led fishing crews to both take them from sharks in their bycatch and start fishing for sharks directly. Shark populations began declining. Since they are predators near the top of the marine food chain , an umbrella species , playing an important role in maintaining ocean ecosystems , this could have serious adverse environmental consequences for marine fisheries . Campaigns began in many nations to prohibit or greatly curtail finning in both territorial and international waters and work toward international agreements on

5626-399: The fins-to-carcass ratio entirely and replaced it with language forbidding any U.S.-flagged vessel, not just a fishing vessel, from carrying shark fins not naturally attached to the corresponding carcass, mirroring a law already adopted by Hawaii . In his later report on the bill, Rep. Nick Rahall , the committee chair, said that Congress had believed in 2000 the language of Magnuson–Stevens

5723-443: The fish at sea saves the storage, transportation and landing expenses necessary to bring the fish to market, thereby increasing the profitability of the voyage. By going from ship to ship purchasing a total of 64,695 pounds of shark fins for resale in the wholesale market, the KD II aided and assisted an activity related to fishing within the plain meaning of the statute and became a 'fishing vessel.'" Moskowitz found reinforcement in

5820-453: The foreign vessels any more than the purchaser of any other product aids and assists the seller by storing the goods it has acquired in a warehouse or transporting them to the location at which it intends to resell them. Nor does the mere act of purchasing constitute an act of aiding and assisting a seller. Otherwise it would not be necessary in criminal statutes that are intended to punish buyers as well as sellers of illegal substances to specify

5917-429: The former group expressly. It would be enough that selling is proscribed and that a purchaser bought the illicit product. Under the district court's theory, the simple act of purchasing would make a buyer an aider or abettor. This is simply incorrect. He noted that "purchase" was not specifically included as a support activity in the statute. For the same reasons, Reinhardt rejected Moskowitz's finding that, specifically,

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6014-399: The fourth series started in June 2021. The Federal Reporter , including its supplementary material, is also available at websites including OpenJurist.org , on CD-ROM compilations, and on West's online legal database, Westlaw . Because individual court cases are identified by case citations that consist of printed page and volume numbers, the electronic text of the opinions incorporates

6111-464: The high seas near Fiji and the Solomon Islands and bought fins from them for a total of $ 250,000. On an earlier voyage that summer, the ship had made $ 6 million from shark fins obtained the same way. Korean-language records from a broker on board indicated an ongoing operation, giving the names of other ships involved. The refrigeration unit on board had broken before the ship had left Honolulu, and

6208-498: The identified nation in its next biennial report to Congress on international fisheries. If the nation can provide evidence that it has taken actions that address the IUU issue(s), a positive certification is issued. A negative certification may result in that nation's fishing vessels losing U.S. port access and potential import restrictions on fish or fish products. In 2017, the Seafood Import Monitoring Program

6305-680: The introduction and propagation of food fishes throughout the nation. This structure remained through the transition of the commission's placement within the U.S. Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in 1970. Initially the commission investigated the reasons for an apparent decline in fish stocks along the shores of southern New England and recommended regulatory measures. The commission also conducted broad, scientific surveys and collections of marine species from scientific research vessels, initially in Northeast Atlantic coastal and deep-sea waters and then in

6402-507: The landing of same by any vessel. Congress assumed that this language would be sufficient to accomplish its intended purpose. On August 13, 2002, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fife was in international waters southeast of Acapulco, Mexico , when it observed the King Diamond II , an 84-foot (26 m) U.S.- flagged vessel owned by Tran and Yu, Inc, a shipping company in Hong Kong , its home port. The Fife 's crew asked more questions over

6499-474: The market." By doing so, they had saved time and money for the other fishing vessels they had taken fins from. He cited a document in the records, a communication between Tran and the Korean broker explicitly saying that a rendezvous "will save our time and cost" as proof. "Commonsense suggests that buying fish from fishermen at sea for resale is an activity related to fishing under the SFPA", wrote Moskowitz. "Selling

6596-560: The now-closed Naval Station Puget Sound . The Northwest Fisheries Science Center is located adjacent to the University of Washington . This site is also home to the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Center Library, founded in 1931. As of 2011, this library contained 16,000 books and subscribed to 250 periodicals. Its subject interests include aquatic science, biochemistry, fisheries biology, fisheries management, food science, and marine science. The Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center

6693-573: The office was renamed the National Marine Fisheries Service. It was placed under the control of NOAA, which was created as a component of the Department of Commerce on October 3, 1970, primarily through a reorganization of the Environmental Science Services Administration , which NOAA replaced. NOAA Fisheries regulates commercial and recreational marine fishing in the United States under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Established in 1976,

6790-727: The operation of the National Systematics Lab , in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center also operates the Woods Hole Science Aquarium in conjunction with the Marine Biological Laboratory . The NMFS maintains the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Centers, both located in Seattle . The Alaska Fisheries Science Center is located on the grounds of

6887-481: The orca. Two other members of the southern resident orca population disappeared within weeks of being tagged by the NMFS and are presumed dead, although the cause of death, if dead, is uncertain as the bodies were not recovered. Wildlife biologist Brad Hanson supervised the NMFS's killer-whale tagging program. He was not removed from his position following the incident. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

6984-445: The page numbers of the printed volumes with "star pagination" formatting—the numbers are boldfaced within brackets and with asterisks prepended (i.e.,  [*4] ) to stand out from the rest of the text. Though West has copyright over its original headnotes and keynotes, the opinions themselves are public domain and accordingly may be found in other sources, chiefly Lexis , Westlaw's primary competitor. The U.S. Court of Appeals for

7081-417: The performance of any activity relating to fishing." On this question Moskowitz agreed with NOAA. By going from ship to ship to buy, store and transport the fins, the KD II and its crew "directly aided and assisted the foreign vessels in an expressly enumerated fishing activity under the statute." Moskowitz qualified his interpretation by disagreeing with the government's assertion that the mere purchase of

7178-415: The possession of fins by a U.S.-flagged vessel in international waters or the landing of any fins at a U.S. port without corresponding carcasses amounting to at least 20 times the weight of the fins. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) was charged with promulgating and implementing regulations to enforce the act. During Congressional debate on the SFPA, Eni Faleomavaega , non-voting Delegate to

7275-413: The practice. In the U.S., President Bill Clinton signed the Shark Finning Prohibition Act (SFPA) into law in 2000 shortly before leaving office. It amended the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act , the primary statute regulating fisheries in the U.S.'s Exclusive Economic Zone up to 200 nautical miles offshore, to prohibit finning in U.S. territorial waters by any vessels, and

7372-477: The purchase of the fins at predetermined locations on the high seas aided the fishing vessels the KD II purchased the fins from, since it was at all times acting on its own interests. "[It] may have been beneficial or even necessary to those vessels' business operations, but the choice did not change the nature of the purchasers' actions in any respect," he observed. "They still purchased the fins, stored them and transported them for their own commercial purposes. From

7469-571: The radio. It learned that the KD II , having sailed out of Honolulu some time ago, was on its way from Honolulu to Guatemala . A Coast Guard detachment aboard the Fife confirmed that it was properly flying the U.S. flag. The Coast Guard was suspicious since the ship was low in the water, suggesting it was carrying heavy cargo, yet there were no cranes or other equipment that a legitimate fishing vessel would be expected to have. Instead there were several large shipping containers . Via radio, they asked

7566-431: The regulation and omits it in another, it is reasonable to presume that the agency acted intentionally in forgoing the language," he wrote, paraphrasing parallel Supreme Court precedent regarding Congressional intent." "Taken together," Reinhardt concluded, "the regulations and the preamble may be reasonably read to provide notice that vessels that engage in at-sea transfers of fins, are prohibited from landing shark fins in

7663-453: The regulations, where he pointed out that Moskowitz had applied the language from the preamble too broadly. "[I]n context, [it] suggests the opposite." Instead of being a case of a vessel with shark fins bound for an American port, the case was instead covered by the regulations on possession, since the KD II was bound for a foreign port, and those provisions were specific to fishing vessels. "Where an agency includes language in one section of

7760-419: The report, Rahall did not directly criticize the court, but Don Young of Alaska , the committee's ranking member , did. In a section for additional views at the end of the report, he called the Ninth Circuit's decision "mistaken." The KD II 's action "was clearly a violation of the Act, but the court ruled otherwise," he wrote. "The court was clearly wrong in their decision and I am glad that we are overriding

7857-466: The rules, which were proposed in early 2005. The rules were enacted to specifically protect the North Atlantic right whale , of which about only 350 remain. Marine-gear entanglements and ship strikes are the top human causes of right whale deaths. On July 1, the shipping lanes in and out of Boston Harbor were rotated to avoid an area with a high concentration of the right whales. In the fiscal year 2017,

7954-409: The sale of drug paraphernalia . Like the SFPA, Moskowitz observed, that ordinance, too, had been enforced only with civil penalties, and was primarily an economic regulation aimed at business activity, which businesses can reasonably be expected to study and prepare for. "Accordingly, the SFPA provisions do not merit strict scrutiny for vagueness." Under a lesser standard, Moskowitz strongly rejected

8051-426: The seller: In this case, the charterers of the KD II did not purchase, store or transport shark fins for the benefit of the foreign fishing vessels. Instead, they purchased the fins for their own commercial purposes. The foreign fishing vessels had no interest in the shark fins after selling them to the KD II . As a result, the KD II 's subsequent post-purchase storage and transport of the shark fins did not benefit

8148-400: The shark fins at the dock would have been preferable for [Tai Loong] (if the cost were to remain the same), and surely the sellers benefited from selling at a particular location, just as they benefited from making the sale in the first place. Nevertheless, wherever the purchase is made, the purchaser is doing no more than making a purchase that it desires to make for its own business reasons. As

8245-461: The shark-fin trade, observed that transshipment operations such as the KD II 's were common and would likely continue as the competition in Hong Kong, the industry's traditional center, grew more intense. While the transshipment ban was an effective response to the decision, she suggested that shipments of containerized fins be allowed if they had been separated from their carcasses after landing. In

8342-421: The standpoint of the purchaser, any benefit to the seller was incidental." Even the letter to the broker specifically stating that the at-sea purchases would save "time and expense" was not convincing. [I]t does not establish that the failure or inability to make such arrangements with respect to all the foreign vessels constituted aiding or assisting those to which the KD II actually went. Surely, purchasing all

8439-599: The statute applied to the KD II . It argued that this failure of the government to thus provide adequate notice that the law would be enforced against such vessels was a violation of their right to due process . Moskowitz found the Supreme Court 's decision in Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside relevant to his analysis. There, the Court had reversed the Seventh Circuit and upheld a local ordinance imposing restrictions on

8536-490: The submission of proposals addressing Marine Animal Entanglement Response in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The eight domestic regional fisheries management councils make binding regulations for federal waters off various parts of the U.S. coast: The National Marine Fisheries Service operates six fisheries science centers covering marine fisheries conducted by the United States. The science centers correspond roughly to

8633-463: The total was more than twice the anticipated amount, making it the largest seizure of shark fins ever. It was estimated that the fins represented a total of 30,000 sharks taken. In early 2003 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement finished its investigation and charged Tran and Yu; Tai Loong Hong Marine Products Ltd., of Hong Kong , for whom

8730-411: The vagueness argument. "[T]he fishing vessel definition here is patently broad on its face", he wrote. "So broad, in fact, that an ordinary person of reasonable intelligence would think that the KD II 's activities would probably be included in the blanket fishing vessel definition rather than exempt from it ... Commonsense indicates that picking up fish or its parts at sea aids fishing and thereby renders

8827-462: The vessel within the express definition of a 'fishing vessel' under [Magnuson–Stevens]." He found further that the publication of the SFPA regulations by the NMFS in the Federal Register constituted constructive notice to Tai Loong. "A reasonable person in the shark fin business would be aware of the SFPA's application to the KD II 's activities." Tai Loong appealed, working out stipulations with NOAA to expedite that process. Foremost among them

8924-511: Was an agreement on the market value of the fins, $ 618,956, to be forfeited if the appeals court ruled in the government's favor. The district court granted the forfeiture in the middle of 2005, and the case went to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals . Judges Stephen Reinhardt , Raymond C. Fisher and Richard R. Clifton (nominated to the court by presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush respectively) were empaneled to hear

9021-681: Was established under NOAA Fisheries to increase transparency and traceability for 13 species of seafood particularly vulnerable to IUU fishing. Greater transparency and traceability helps NOAA enforcement agents locate and block IUU seafood imports from entering U.S. markets. The program requires full traceability—that is, documentation from the point of capture to the point of entry. NOAA Fisheries' Seafood Inspection Program certifies U.S. seafood products for domestic consumption and for export. This voluntary, fee-for-service program's inspection activities include vessel and plant sanitation inspections and seafood product quality evaluations. After inspecting

9118-612: Was formed when President Ulysses S. Grant named zoologist Spencer Fullerton Baird , United States National Museum director and assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution , the first commissioner of the United States Fish Commission. The commission was divided into three research categories: the study of U.S. waters and fish and its biological problems, the study of past and present fishing methods and collection of fish catch and trade statistics, and

9215-447: Was outfitted at the time of the seizure", he wrote. Since there was nothing in the record about that, he declined to decide the question on that grounds. There was more to consider when Moskowitz turned to the support aspect. "Simply put, the issue in this case narrows down to whether the KD II is a vessel which was used for, equipped to be used for, or of a type which is normally used for aiding or assisting one or more vessels at sea in

9312-541: Was reauthorized and revised in 2007 to include annual catch limits to end overfishing . Overfishing, which NOAA Fisheries is tasked with preventing, is a major threat to biodiversity, global food security, and the fishing sector. The MSA also requires that overfished stocks be rebuilt within 10 years, except in cases where the life history characteristics of the stock, environmental conditions or management measures under an international agreement dictate otherwise. Fisheries managers use stock assessments to help determine if

9409-493: Was sufficient to prevent transshipment. The new legislation's primary purpose, he stated explicitly, was to close the loophole the decision opened. The bill was referred to the Natural Resources Committee , which then referred it to its Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans , chaired by Bordallo. Hearings were held a week later, at which Shelley Clarke, a researcher at Imperial College London who studies

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