Tag Archives: Lawsuit filed
Time to save the Right Whale from the Green-Left
Back in the sixties and seventies, “Save the Whales” was the exclusive domain of the political left. As Bob Dylan might say, “The times they are a changin.” Three major “conservative” organizations – the National Legal Policy Center, Heartland Institute, and my organization, the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow – recently filed a major lawsuit in a Washington, D.C. federal court to save the Right Whale from facing potential oblivion. Why aren’t the larger Green groups, unlike the grassroots ones, rallying around the efforts of these organizations to save Right Whales? Good question. Whales are being threatened by the Biden Administration’s fast-track plans to hurriedly place 30,000 MW of wind power generation off the Eastern coast, and doing so without the proper sort of environmental impact assessment they might otherwise perform for, say, offshore oil. more, >>click to read<< 11:11
Lawsuit filed over bridge repairs
On December 28, 2021, a dump truck pulling an excavator on a flatbed truck struck the overhead portion of the Mispillion drawbridge, as a result, the bridge cannot be lifted to allow larger boats to travel under the bridge. This has led to a lawsuit filed by Joan and Sudler Lofland, Russell Brown, Kevin Beam and Jason Watson requesting that the bridge be opened. The Lofland’s own the Vinyard Shipyard, Brown, Beam and Watson are commercial fishermen who docked their boat at the shipyard during the winter for repairs and maintenance. >click to read< 19:50
Lawsuit filed to Protect Pacific Humpback from fishing gear, Can lawsuits save North Atlantic Right Whale?
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the National Marine Fisheries Service today for failing to protect endangered Pacific humpback whales from deadly entanglements in sablefish pot gear off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. According to Fisheries Service estimates, the sablefish fishery on average kills or seriously injures about two humpback whales every year. The fishery uses 2-mile-long strings of 30 to 50 pots. >click to read< Can Litigation Help Save the North Atlantic Right Whale From Extinction? – As conservation organizations and governments around the globe grapple with the devastating effects of climate change and overexploitation, the legal battle fought over the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, one of the world’s most endangered large whale species, may provide insights into how litigation can help, or hinder, efforts to save species from extinction. >click to read< 13:41
Lawsuit filed by Quinn Fisheries and Blue Harvest Fisheries against Carlos Rafael’s trustee and three arbitrators
Quinn Fisheries and Blue Harvest Fisheries filed a lawsuit last week against Carlos Rafael’s trustee and three arbitrators, alleging they are blocking a multimillion-dollar transaction of vessels and permits that was scheduled to happen April 16. The permits are for scallops and multi-species fish. The fishing seasons have already started or will soon start and because the transaction cannot be finalized, Quinn Fisheries and Blue Harvest state they will experience serious and irreparable financial harm. According to the 19-page complaint, Quinn Fisheries planned to transfer certain vessels and permits to Blue Harvest, and then purchase vessels and permits from Blue Harvest. >click to read< 11:08
The Maine Lobstering Union says the CEO of Lobster 207 and his parents embarked ‘on a systematic scheme’ to enrich themselves.
A federal lawsuit is alleging that the former owners of a Trenton lobster wholesaler violated an agreement to leave the business and instead stole $1.94 million from the new owners. The suit, filed in Bangor federal district court, said that the Maine Lobstering Union bought a wholesaling business in Trenton from Anthony and Josette Pettegrow in early 2017. >click to read< 09:14
Lobstermen’s union says former CEO and his parents embezzled funds, committed fraud – >click to read< 11:06
Former seafood company manager alleges he was fired after reporting illegal actions
The former general manager of a Spruce Head Island seafood company claims he was fired after raising concerns to the president of the parent corporation about illegal actions that included repackaging expired seafood as new. The claims are included in a lawsuit filed June 18 in the Knox County court by Corey Thompson of St. George against Atwood Lobster, LLC; Maine Lobster & Processing, Inc.; Jorzac, Inc.; Mazzetta Company, LLC; Beach Point, LLC; Londonderry Freezer, LLC; Highwood Cold Storage; and Gloucester Seafood Processing. The attorney representing Atwood Lobster and the related firms said the companies deny any violation of the law when it terminated Thompson’s employment. Attorney Tawny Alvarez of Portland said the companies also deny claims made by Thompson about repackaging expired seafood. >click to read< 21:22
Lawsuit challenges fishing methods that could threaten right whales
An environmental activist is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the use of vertical buoy fishing lines in Massachusetts waters to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. In lawsuit filed in late February in U.S. District Court in Boston, conservationist Richard Maximus Strahan of Peterborough, New Hampshire, has sued the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the assistant administrator of the Nation Marine Fisheries Service, the secretary of the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the director of the state Division of Massachusetts Fisheries Service, the commissioners of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, as a representative of its members. Strahan wants to stop the state’s lobster association members from further lobster pot and gill net commercial fishing operations unless they can scientifically demonstrate the endangered whales and sea turtles would not be killed or injured. >click to read<19:14
Lawsuit filed to save North Atlantic Right Whales from death in fishing gear
Today’s lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges that federal management of the American lobster fishery violates the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The lawsuit seeks to force the agency to sufficiently examine the fishery’s impacts on North Atlantic right whales and adopt additional measures to prevent more entanglements in the future. The lobster fishery is the most active fixed-gear fishery in the northeastern United States. >click here to read< 12:08 
Environmental group sues California over whale-killing gear
An environmental group sued the state of California on Tuesday for allegedly not doing enough to keep Dungeness crab fishery gear from killing protected whales. The Center for Biological Diversity filed its lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco, saying the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is liable for a surge in entanglements of endangered whales and sea turtles because it authorizes and manages operation of the fishery. click here to read the story 15:18
Lawsuit filed seeking $464,000 in lawyer fees, Former fish auction owners renew battle with NOAA
The long and torturous legal battle with NOAA that sent the former Gloucester Fish Exchange 
into bankruptcy and to its ultimate sale may not be over just yet. The owners of GFX — the forerunner to the Cape Ann Seafood Exchange on Harbor Loop — are suing NOAA in federal court to recoup about $464,000 in legal fees the company paid during its battle and ultimate settlement with the federal fisheries regulator. The action names current Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the Commerce Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as defendants. The suit, prompted by NOAA’s final decision on March 6 denying GFX any reimbursement for legal fees, rekindles the battle that began as far back as 2005. The long-running affair resulted in two NOAA enforcement actions against the former auction — and a subsequent apology by then Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco for the excesses of the agency’s law enforcement unit. Click here to continue reading the story 13:07
Enviro Lawyer Lawsuit Filed to Protect Endangered Steller Sea Lions AGAIN!
“We have been forced back to court once again by an agency that appears intent on sacrificing healthy ocean ecosystems for short-term economic gain,” said Michael LeVine, Pacific Senior Counsel for Oceana. “We hoped that the Fisheries Service would show the leadership needed to find long–term, sustainable solutions, but instead, we find ourselves back in court to defend the basic premise that sea lions need fish caught by industrial fisheries to survive.” Read the rest here 10:58
Lawsuit filed over new rules for hired halibut skippers
The changes to the individual fishing quota, or IFQ, program revolve around the hired master program, and when a quota holder can have someone else catch their fish. Under the planned changes, catcher vessel-derived quota received by transfer after February 2010 cannot be fished by a hired master, with certain exceptions Read the rest here 15:21
