9th Circuit upholds state in Cook Inlet case

We told you over the weekend about a lawsuit the commercial fishing industry filed against the state concerning salmon management in Upper Cook Inlet.

Now, today, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has issued an opinion favoring the state in a case four commercial gillnetters brought in 2007.

Here's the top of the appeals court opinion:

Plaintiffs Dyer L. Vandevere, John McCombs, Gary Hollier, and John Jent fish commercially for salmon in the waters of Alaska's Upper Cook Inlet. State-issued entry permits and shore fishery leases allow them to fish there. After Alaska promulgated regulations that shorten the fishing year and limit the number of salmon that commercial fishers may harvest, Plaintiffs brought this action against Defendant Denby Lloyd, who is the Commissioner of the Fisheries for the State of Alaska (the "Commissioner of the Fisheries"), asking the district court to declare those regulations unconstitutional as a taking of property without just compensation and as a violation of Plaintiffs' due process rights. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Commissioner of the Fisheries. On de novo review, Ward v. Ryan, 623 F.3d 807, 810 (9th Cir. 2010), we affirm.