A federal judge has found the process for appointing members to the New England Fishery Management Council violates the U.S. Constitution, but the ruling stopped short of suspending the council from overseeing fisheries in five Northeastern states.
In a 143-page decision issued on Dec. 30, 2024, Judge John Woodcock Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine agreed with the industry-backed New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association that “statutory provisions allowing fishery councils made up of state bureaucrat and governor-nominated members” are unconstitutional.
But the George W. Bush appointee also held that the provisions “are severable from the function of the statute or will of Congress,” effectively allowing the council to continue its work in an advisory role to NOAA Fisheries.
Jerry Leeman, the fisherman’s group CEO, characterized the ruling in a statement as “a partial victory against rogue bureaucrats [by] declaring that a key regulatory body is unconstitutional in critical respects.” But he criticized what he called the judge’s decision “to salvage the regulations that are driving fishermen off the water and decimating our coastal communities.”
