New York Loses 2nd Cir. Appeal of Summer Flounder Catch Quotas

The National Marine Fisheries Service correctly determined the amount of summer flounder, or fluke, that can be fished off the coast of New York, the Second Circuit ruled Friday, affirming a lower court.

The agency’s decision is rooted in its technical expertise, “for which it enjoys substantial deference,” Judge Richard C. Wesley wrote for the three-judge panel.

NMFS properly considered the national standards outlined in the Magnuson-Stevens Act when setting each state’s summer flounder quotas, the panel said.

New York sued the agency in 2021, claiming that its most recent allocation rule retained each state’s original quota from 1993, when ...