Coast Guard Bill Takes Aim at Maritime Liens on Fishing Permits

U.S. admiralty courts have held that fishing rights are “appurtenances” of a vessel to which maritime liens will attach, much as they would attach to a piece of physical equipment aboard the vessel. Section 301 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014, introduced February 6, 2014, aims to overturn this doctrine and immunize fishing permits from the attachment of maritime liens under the appurtenance doctrine or by operation of Chapter 313 of the United States Code. The provision would dilute the security of fishing industry creditors, particularly where the value of the vessel lies primarily in its permits. The proposal surfaced in the House’s 2012 Coast Guard bill, but did not survive in the law ultimately enacted.