"A federal appeals court on Thursday restored a U.S. agency rule restricting lobster and Jonah crab fishing off the Massachusetts coast to protect endangered whales, rejecting a claim that the agency did not deserve deference under a recent landmark Supreme Court case.

In a 3-0 decision, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston said the National Marine Fisheries Service acted lawfully in banning from Feb. 1 to April 30 annually the use of vertical buoy lines in a 200-nautical-mile area of federal waters called the Massachusetts Restricted Area Wedge.

The Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association sued to block the rule, saying a Dec. 2022 appropriations rider reflected the U.S. Congress' intent not to extend emergency protections for North Atlantic right whales from earlier that year.
A federal district judge declared the rule void last March.

But in Thursday's decision, Circuit Judge Seth Aframe called that a mistake because the rule was "in place" when the rider took effect, though it was not being enforced at that time."

Jonathan Stempel reports for Reuters January 30, 2025. [2]