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An Annotated Guide To The Major Provisions Of The Sustainable Fisheries Act, William K. Terrill Editor-In-Chief

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Fishermen's Dock Coop., Inc. V. Brown: Judicial Review Of Optimum Yield Determinations, Philip L. Curcio

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (Magnuson Act or Act) was enacted by Congress to conserve U.S. coastal fishery resources and to maximize the economic and social utility of those resources for U.S. citizens. The Act has a fisheries management goal of providing the "optimum yield" of all managed species, a concept which is based on the statistically derived quantity of "maximum sustainable yield" as modified "by any relevant economic, social, or ecological factor." The mandatory consideration of these three factors, coupled with the inherent uncertainty of fish stock assessment techniques, effectively places broad discretionary power in the …

Blueprint For Whale Conservation: Implementing The Marine Mammal Protection Act, Nina M. Young, Suzanne Iudicello

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Over its twenty-four year history, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA) has had both its successes and its failures, yet it remains one of the cornerstones of marine conservation and one of the most effective mechanisms to protect marine mammals. Marine mammals now face threats, however, that are global in scope and involve humans and our shared use of the marine environment. Diminishing marine resources and diminishing federal funds force fishers and conservationists to develop creative initiatives to conserve marine mammals, marine habitats, and species diversity, while still promoting economically viable fisheries. Marine mammals often compete with humans …

Deep Ecology And The Antarctic Marine Living Resources: Lessons For Other Regimes, Sudhir Chopra, Craig Hanson

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Extremely cold temperatures and severe climatic conditions make Antarctica the most lifeless continent in the world. Because the majority of its mainland is ice-covered, Antarctica is unable to support most forms of plant and animal life. The animal life that is able to survive is primarily marine dependent, living in the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is the habitat for a unique and diverse collection of marine living resources. Interestingly, this marine life, because of the small number of species, comprises one of the simplest ecosystems in the world. The existence of a peculiarly short food chain focuses much of …

The Flipper Phenomenon: Perspectives On The Panama Declaration And The "Dolphin Safe" Label, Nina M. Young, Wm. Robert Irvin, Meredith L. Mclean

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

During the past twenty years, few marine conservation issues have aroused as much public interest as the drowning of dolphins in purse seine nets. For a generation that grew up watching the playful antics of Flipper on television, graphic video footage of dolphins hauled to their deaths in tuna nets was simply too much to stomach. Led by American school children and their "baby-boomer" parents, consumer boycotts of tuna spurred tuna harvesters and Congress to adopt measures requiring "dolphin safe" labeling and prohibiting the importation of non-dolphin-safe tuna into the United States. Since the adoption of these measures, the number …

Is There A Legal And Conservation Basis For Individual Fishing Quotas?, George J. Mannina, Jr.

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

When Congress passed the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (Magnuson-Stevens Act or Act), and subsequently amended the Act in 1996, it recognized the need to establish a comprehensive conservation and management program for the fisheries found off of the U.S. coast. Since enactment in 1976, there has been an expansion in the capacity of the U.S. fishing fleet, and there also has been a growing debate among fisheries managers about whether fishery management plans (FMP) should include provisions limiting U.S. fishing effort and allocating the fish among U.S. fishermen. The purpose of this Article is to examine the …

Regulating Aesthetics Of Coastal Maine: Kroeger V. Department Of Environmental Protection, Nancy Walworth

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In Kroeger v. Department of Environmental Protection, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, held that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had appropriately denied a private landowner a permit to build a dock. Out of nine permitting criteria enforced by the DEP, the court held that the structure would violate one criterion: the unreasonable interference with the scenic uses of Somes Sound. The majority cited the enjoyment of the Sound by boaters and recreationalists, as well as the nearby tourist attraction of Acadia National Park as factors supporting the area’s scenic use. The majority found that …

From Resource Conservation To Sustainability: An Assessment Of Two Decades Of The European Union's Common Fisheries Policy, Gwenaële Proutière-Maulion

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The European Union (EU) is today the world’s third largest fishing entity (surpassed only by China and Peru), with over seven million tons of fish landed in 2001. Denmark and Spain, the two main fishing countries in the EU, land about one million tons of fish annually and employ more than one-quarter of the sector’s workforce (more than 150,000 persons). Furthermore, the EU fishing fleet had more than 90,000 ships in 2002 and the number of people employed in its fishing industry (including aquaculture, fish processing, marketing, supply, and shipbuilding) in 1997 was over half a million persons. The fishing …

Puget Sound Orcas, Vessel Noise, And Whale-Watching: A Licensing Program To Overcome The Problem Of The Esa's Economically-Blind "Take" Rule, Ian Boisvert

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The din of Puget Sound's seafaring activities negatively affects one of the region's natural icons, the southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca). The most extreme example is when high-intensity naval sonar causes cetaceans to beach themselves, leading to their death. Vessel noise, however, is more problematic on a long-term scale because of its pervasiveness. Vessels, which contribute the greatest amount of anthropogenic noise in the ocean, raise background noise to a level that interferes with marine mammals' communication, navigation, and prey detection. This interference, called "masking," reduces animals' abilities to receive and transmit information. By contributing to masking, whale-watchinggrowing both …

Finding The Ways Through The Phase Ii Maze: Coastal Cold Weahter Ms4s And The Epa's New Stormwater Regulatory Program, Chris Dargie

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The coastlines of the United States are composed of over 90,000 miles of estuarine waters and nearly 60,000 miles of ocean shoreline. The aesthetic allure and quality of life offered by this valuable national natural resource continues to catalyze explosive population migrations coastward, and demographic experts predict that up to seventy-five percent of the United States population will live, work, or vacation along the nation's shorelines within the next decade. Unfortunately, in most areas this increased use is sure to carry with it a substantial environmental price in the form of increased pollution. The stark reality of the current and …

Epa "Oversight"? How The Environmental Protection Agency Has Failed To Protect Pacific Salmon From Dangerous Toxins, Nicholas W. Allen

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The plight of the Pacific Salmon has been fervidly researched over the latter half of the twentieth century by scientists and environmentalists searching for an explanation behind the declining populations of these once vibrant species. While this sustained research has yet to reveal one specific causative factor, advancing technologies and intensive studies have supported the emergence of a new consensus, one that accepts the proposition that an aggregation of man made factors has inflicted the most damage upon Pacific Salmon and their habitats. While some biological and environmental factors have no doubt helped perpetuate the decline of Pacific Salmon populations, …

Picture This: Promoting Sustainable Fisheries Through Eco-Labeling And Product Certification, Tracy Cooper

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Since the dawn of humanity, fishing has been a major source of food and has provided jobs and economic benefits for a significant percentage of the world's population. That fact has not changed. Today, according to the 2002 State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the global population depends upon fisheries resources for fifteen percent of total animal protein supplies. In 2000, 22.8 million people were employed in marine capture fisheries and global production of fish and other aquatic products from capture fisheries totaled 94.8 million tons. The total sale value …

Digital Learning, Blended Courses: The Long And Winding Road Of Measuring Outcomes, Nancy Marksbury, Annie Almekinder, Laurel Hester, Nicholas Koberstein, Douglas Richards, Enid A. Bryant, Dorothy Schramm

Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts Conference

Keuka College’s institutional vision is to become a leader within higher education in integrating digital learning into the liberal arts. Our Digital Learning at Keuka College (DL@KC) initiative aims to encourage students to think critically about how digital tools and technologies work and the possibilities and limitations of their use in enhancing problem solving and creativity. The initiative was introduced at last year’s conference in presenting examples of faculty experimentation and a preliminary set of student learning outcomes, generated by faculty, was shared.

Our journey continues by reflecting on student performance in courses designed with these embedded student outcomes, our …

Intertidal Zone Aquaculture And The Public Trust Doctrine, Julia Underwood

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

As interest in the potential of shellfish aquaculture increases nationwide in the next several years, conflicts over access to and use of the intertidal zone undoubtedly will increase as well. In Massachusetts and Maine these conflicts are likely to be more pronounced because of an atypical division of public and private rights and responsibilities in that zone. In contrast to most other areas of the country, where the state owns title to land between the high and low water marks, Massachusetts and Maine riparian property owners hold title in fee down to the low water mark. That grant of title, …

Challenging The "Distinct Population Segment" Definition Of Atlantic Salmon Under The Endangered Species Act, Kirk G. Siegel

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In October 1993, a citizen petition was filed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or Act) to list the anadromous Atlantic salmon as an endangered species throughout its historic range in the contiguous United States. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) responded in January 1994, by forming a joint biological review team to perform a detailed Status Review of the requested listing. Following completion of the Status Review, the two Services announced that the petitioned U.S.-wide listing was not warranted, but acknowledged that listings for populations in certain New England …

Mariculture In Offshore Critical Habitat Areas: A Case Study Of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Bradley W. Barr

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Recognizing that the ocean is not a uniform environment, but a highly heterogeneous patchwork of different habitats, bottom types, physical features and varying water column complexities, it follows that some of these areas are more important toward specie survival and long term success. Such areas are called "essential habitats," which are "geographically or physically distinct areas that one or more species finds indispensable for its survival at some phase in its life history." Arguably, it is difficult to identify such areas given the state of our knowledge of oceanic environments at ecologically-significant scales. It is this uncertainty, in part, that …

To Be Or Not To B E Involved: Aquaculture Management Options For The New England Fishery Management Council, William J. Brennan

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In 1995, several issues arose which prompted the New England Fishery Management Council (the Council) to assess its ability to administer siting proposals for aquaculture and other similar projects in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). At the request of the Aquaculture Committee Chairman, this author prepared a report for the Council entitled "Background Information and Recommendations for New England Fishery Management Council Development of an Aquaculture Policy and Management Strategy." Aquaculture is positioned to move into the EEZ on a large scale basis, and the Council has an opportunity to manage this growth. This Commentary will explore the legal authority …

An Environmental Critique Of Government Regulations And Policies For Open Ocean Aquaculture, D. Douglas Hopkins, Rebecaa J. Goldburg, Andrea Martson

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Aquaculture, the practice of farming shellfish, finfish, and plants in water, has existed for thousands of years. In the United States, however, aquaculture has a much shorter history and has only recently been recognized to have significant economic potential. In light of recent dramatic management failures in capture fisheries, leading to collapses of some wild fish populations, many have begun to view aquaculture as an efficient, reliable alternative means to satisfy rising consumer demand for fish and to create new jobs. It is now the fastest growing agricultural sector in the United States. Operators of aquaculture operations in the United …

Recent Articles In Ocean And Coastal Law And Policy, Andrea G. Coffman

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

No abstract provided.

International Dolphin Conservation Under U.S. Law: Does Might Make Right?, Louanna C. Perkins

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Finding adequate solutions to wildlife conservation problems is rarely simple or straightforward. In developing acceptable domestic conservation policies, a nation must balance competing economic, political, biological and social concerns. When a wildlife problem is of international relevance, the range of competing interests is even broader. A nation's wildlife policies must then take into account not only various concerns of the nation's own citizenry, but also potential impacts on foreign policy. In addition, economic, political and cultural needs and values of the other nations whose interests are implicated must be recognized and weighed in the balance. The problem of dolphin mortality …

United States Practice And The Bearing Sea: Is It Consistent With A Norm Of Ecosystem Management?, Timothy D. Smith

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The need for management of our planet's oceanic environment on an ecosystem level has been an important and much discussed topic in marine science and policy circles. At least one scholar has argued that customary international law requires states to manage the earth's oceans on an ecosystem level rather than by using an "ad hoc" or species-byspecies system. Ecosystem management provides for a more comprehensive approach toward the utilization and protection of resources in a given geographic area than does species specific management. Not only does ecosystem management consider complex interrelationships among species, but it also takes into account considerations …

The Bay's Legal Fund V. Browner: Should The Courts Allow An Agency's Poor Timing To Imperil Endangered Species?, Sally A. Williams

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently approved the continuing construction of a $310 million tunnel and sewage outfall project in Boston Harbor. The court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), did not violate the Endangered Species Act (ESA), by approving the construction of the outfall tunnel. The court specifically found that the evidence failed to show any harm to endangered species, that the environmental impact statements issued by the EPA were sufficient to establish compliance with the requirements of the ESA, …

Individual Transferable Fishing Quotas And Antitrust Law, William J. Milliken

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Around the world, the allocation of individual rights in the fisheries has proved to be a successful fisheries management tool. To date, the Individual Transferable Quota [ITQ] approach has been adopted for only a few fisheries in the U.S., although there is strong support for extending the approach to others. The basic goal of the ITQ approach is to create well-defined, exclusive property rights in a fishery, giving holders of those rights the incentive to fish efficiently and manage the resource for long-term sustainable yield. The property rights allocated are often percentage shares of the total annual allowable harvest or …

Strahan V. Linnon: A Missed Opportunity For Testing The Use Of Section 7(A)(1) As An Action-Forcing Provision, Amber Shell Ward

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In its 1997 decision, Strahan v. Linnon, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts summarily rejected the claims of Max Strahan, a whale enthusiast and citizen activist. Following two occasions upon which a United States Coast Guard vessel struck and killed an endangered Northern Right whale' Strahan brought numerous claims, alleging various violations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and other relevant environmental statutes. The defendants, namely the United States Coast Guard and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), were granted summary judgment on every count. Although the court's decision was reasonable in light of applicable case …

State Incentive Based Oil Tanker Regulation: An Alternative To Traditional Command-And-Control Regulation, Mark T. Peterson

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Major oil spills from tankers often result in severe localized damage. After the Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling approximately eleven million gallons of oil, the federal government passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), establishing a federal scheme of oil spill prevention, liability, contingency planning, and compensation. Although comprehensive, OPA also specifically allows states to determine their own liability schemes, and to enact other types of legislation. Washington State was the first state to enact stricter oil pollution prevention regulations than those contained in OPA. These regulations were challenged by the International …

American Lobster Fishery Management Under The Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act: An Attempt At Cooperative Fishery Jurisdiction, Erik T. Barstow

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

After the elections in 1994, the Republican party cited their newly gained power over the Senate and the House of Representatives as a call by Americans for smaller government, deregulation, and a return of power to the states. Political leaders from both sides of the aisle responded in kind, albeit with varying degrees of deference to existing federal based power. In step with this federalist mandate, in late February and early March of 1995, President Bill Clinton announced the Regulatory Reinvention Initiative, to reform the federal regulatory system. Fishery management has become a proving ground of this regulatory reform and …

Conflicts Of Interest On Regional Fishery Management Councils: Corruption Or Cooperative Management?, Teresa M. Cloutier

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

When Congress created the Regional Fishery Management Councils under the Magnuson Act, it was felt that user groups with an interest in the resource would act in a manner which would protect that resource and ensure the future health of our fisheries.... Now, rightly or wrongly, many people feel the Councils and their members are acting unfairly. If this perception of unfairness is correct, then Congress definitely must take strong action to rectify this problem ... even if it comes down to only a matter of perception. Congress, in enacting the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (MFCMA), …

A Review Of Develpoments In Ocean And Coastal Law 1999-2000, Michelle Baldwin, Elizabeth C. Davis, Brett D. Witham

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Dam Removal: Evolving Federal Policy Opens A New Avenue Of Fisheries And Ecosystem Management, Peter J. Carney

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

When the United States was a young nation, and its natural resources were perceived as endless, dams and the power they produced were viewed as sources of "free" energy. But, as has been the case in so many other situations where assumptions were made on the basis of "bottomless" resources, the continued existence of many dam projects is questionable. Environmental costs externalized by dam operators have become apparent as real costs in the form of a degraded environment and the decline of natural resources supported by riverine ecosystems, such as anadromous fish. As many dams have come down and others …

"If You Can't Beat 'Em, Eat 'Em:" Legal Methods To Control Aquatic Nuisance Species In The Gulf Of Mexico, Kristen M. Fletcher

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The emergence of aquatic nuisance species in the Gulf of Mexico has created repercussions not only on the environment and economies of the Gulf states, but has crept into the Southern culture, as well. The nutria is a rodent that was introduced into the United States from Argentina in 1937, an addition to the collection of the Avery Island nature preserve on the southern fringes of Louisiana. A hurricane resulted in the release of the animals into the surrounding marshes, and the nutria became widespread across south Louisiana in only five years. It eventually spread across the State, causing the …