New England fishermen fighting ‘government overreach’ hope to catch a big win at Supreme Court

In a David versus Goliath matchup, the Supreme Court will hear a set of arguments on Wednesday over a Commerce Department regulation, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), that could sink the fishing industry in the United Sates.

Last year a group of fishermen from New Jersey petitioned the Supreme Court to consider their lawsuit against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Commerce Department that imposed a federal regulation requiring their boats to pay roughly $700 a day to fund the salary of a human "at-sea" monitor for each expedition to ensure compliance of fishing laws.

At the heart of their arguments before the high court is what’s called the Chevron doctrine, established in 1984 by a case called Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.

In that case, the Supreme Court said that if a federal rule is challenged in court, the court should give deference to the agency and its "reasonable" interpretation of a congressional statute it argues granted them permission to create the rule.

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The fishermen will argue that the at-sea monitor payment mandate violates Article 1 of the Constitution and that the court should overturn Chevron, an outcome that would significantly change the legal landscape for the administrative state.

But for the fishermen, many of whom are stewards of 4th and 5th generation small family businesses, a legal victory would mean securing their livelihoods they feel have been on the brink.

"It’s pretty much unfathomable," Jerry Leman, founder of the New England Fishermen's Stewardship Association (NEFSA), told Fox News