Jeff Jennings Equality & Opportunity Attorney | Pacific Legal Foundation
Dominick and James Russo have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce, challenging the constitutionality of a catch limit rule adopted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. The plaintiffs argue that this rule drastically limits their business operations.
The Russo brothers, who run FFC Seafood in Sarasota, Florida, have been fishing since their teenage years. Their primary source of income is gag grouper, which is highly popular with high-end restaurants.
In 2021, Amendment 56 was introduced, reducing the amount of gag grouper that commercial fishermen like the Russos can legally catch by over 80 percent. This amendment not only lowered the total allowable catch but also reallocated a significant portion to recreational fishermen.
“Amendment 56 has devastated our clients’ livelihoods and represents troubling overreach by unelected officials,” said Michael Poon, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “The Constitution requires the president to appoint key federal officials. Members of the regional fishery management councils are improperly appointed and unaccountable, rendering their actions, including this harmful regulation, unlawful.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service issued the rule under orders from the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. This council is one of eight regional bodies composed of state and federally appointed members. According to critics like Poon, this system allows council members to wield federal power without proper accountability due to improper appointments under the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
The case has been filed as Russo v. Raimondo in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is representing Dominick and James Russo in this legal challenge. PLF is a national nonprofit law firm that defends Americans against government overreach and abuse. Since its founding in 1973, PLF has actively challenged government actions that violate individual liberty and constitutional rights across 34 states plus Washington D.C., achieving notable success with 18 wins out of 20 cases litigated at the U.S. Supreme Court.
