New York Officials Prevail in Suit Over Tribal Fishing Rights

New York officials again beat a lawsuit brought by members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, who asserted that colonial-era deeds provide them the right to fish without being subject to the state’s conservation regulations.

The record shows the tribe members lack aboriginal fishing rights in Shinnecock Bay, and that the state’s rules on eel fishing “have a valid and non-discriminatory purpose,” Judge Gary R. Brown of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York wrote in an Oct. 3 order.

The US Supreme Court on Monday also declined to take up a similar case brought by ...