Plaintiffs allege that the Federal Defendants violated the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act, by issuing a final rule for the Hawai’i shallow-set swordfish longline fishery that implemented new incidental take levels for certain sea turtles based on a 2012 biological opinion, and by issuing a special purpose permit allowing the fishery to incidentally take certain seabirds.
Magistrate Judge found agencies' position was substantially justified, but agencies' settled for much-reduced amount instead of pursuing further litigation based on unfavorable case law in the Ninth Circuit.