At first glance, Atlantic fishermen might not appear to be in the same boat as those fighting for freedom from ever-increasing government overreach. Yet a flawed legal precedent, known as the Chevron doctrine, has surrounded fishermen in a sea of government red tape. Alarmingly, this same precedent threatens to drag everyone from electricians to engineers to bankers under, as well. But if oral arguments at the Supreme Court this month are any indicator, there is reason to hope.
Like many small businesses, fishermen have been bracing against the administrative state’s expanding reach for four decades. The high court unleashed the Chevron doctrine in a 1984 decision, snatching away all lower courts’ authority to interpret ambiguous federal laws and placing it in the hands of unelected federal bureaucrats, including those employed by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
