The Gloucester Seafood Display Auction has formally challenged a potential 10-day closure ordered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, asking a federal judge today to bar fisheries regulators from suspending its operating license.
NOAA had given the auction until today to either mount a legal challenge to the suspension order, which comes out of an alleged violation of a six-year-old probation agreement, or to choose a time between now and July 13 to close its doors. Auction co-owner Larry Ciulla had said when NOAA’s latest order was issued last Friday that the auction, the hub of Gloucester’s and New England’s fishing industry, would not agree to a shutdown in response to NOAA’s latest charge.
In asking a U.S. District Court judge for a temporary restraining order/preliminary injunction against NOAA, the auction argues on procedural grounds that it did not violate its probation, and accuses the agency of seeking "retaliation" for involvement in an investigation by the U.S. Inspector General of its law enforcement tactics.