Walk softly.
Walk softly, stranger.
The land on which you stand is Holy ground …
a place of unspoiled beauty, colored by the hand of God.
And you who stand upon this land will someday too
remember sun-washed sands and quiet days, and
moments crystallized in time.
Walk softly, stranger,
for you stand on Holy
“When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to catch whole for they will break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl of their own will onto a knife blade and lift them gently into your bottle of sea water. And
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the M/V Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior in 1975. It sank in rough weather, taking with it the lives of 29 officers and crew. Commemorative events are outlined here.
With this anniversary and with the sinking of the M/V El Faro last month, it
October 1st and the Supreme Court just granted hearing in several cases. Of note, to this humble island attorney, is the case of Puerto Rico v. Valle. Those pesky Insular Cases….(my posts here and here).
This case arises from a criminal prosecution in Puerto Rico. A criminal defendant was convicted of federal
The Ninth Circuit struck down a challenge to the constitutionality of the Jones Act or Merchant Marine Act of 1920. The case was Novak v. United States and the opinion can be found here.
The litigated component of the Jones Act (rest easy merchant mariners, you didn't lose your worker compensation causes of action)
The Ninth Circuit rejected a challenge to California's Shark Fin Law, Cal. Fish & Game Code § 2021(b) which makes it "unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer for sale, trade, or distribute a shark fin" in the state. The case is Chinatown Neighborhood Ass'n v. Harris and the opinion can be found here
Ah, the bloggers's dream: juxtaposing DC Showdown with Fisheries Law in the title of your post.
On a more serious note, domestic fisheries are a $5B component of our national economy with certainly more impact locally in those ports where fish are landed.
The governing statute which sets out federal regulation of fisheries is the
The Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, held that punitive damages were NOT available for unseaworthiness claims. The case is Haleigh Janee McBride v. Estis Well Serv. and the original opinion can be found here. In a lengthy opinion, with multiple concurring/dissenting opinions, the panel found that the Supreme Court's decision in Atlantic
Off we go, into the wild blue yonder?
Parasailing: A neat experience for a vacationer or an industry in need of regulation?
[Photo courtesy of wikiepedia commons].
The National Transportation Safety Board issued a report entitled Parasailing Safety today. The NTSB issued this report in response to several accidents on parasailing vessels.
Per the Executive
In a classic admiralty, multi-country, CivPro wonky fashion, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals just issued a decision analyzing the basic jurisdiction of the federal courts to enforce foreign judgments arising from admiralty cases.
The case is D'amico Dry Limited v. Priemera Maritime (Hellas) Ltd., et al. and the opinion can be found here.