Pacific Seafood Sues NMFS to Overturn West Coast Groundfish IFQ Program and Quota Allocation Rules  Last week Pacific Choice, a subsidiary of Pacific Seafoods, filed a federal lawsuit against NMFS claiming that the West Coast groundfish rationalization program violated a number of requirements prescribed by Magnuson. The Plaintiffs ask that the court reinstate the quota share that NOAA required be divested as of November 30, 2015, if it exceeded quota share caps. Today’s story details Pacific’s four key arguments supporting its lawsuit. “The West Coast IFQ non-whiting groundfish program is broken and hurting the industry up and down the coast,” said Mike Okoniewski, Pacific’s Fisheries Policy and Management Advisor Fisherman. “Fisherman, processors, and now even NMFS economists have raised the issue to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council without any meaningful response. We're attempting to fix the problem before it's too late.” Fishery managers in California, Oregon and Washington met Monday and agreed to continue delays to commercial Dungeness fishing in an attempt to open the fisheries all at once. Tests show domoic acid levels have fallen to safe human consumption levels in crabs in either all or parts of each state’s waters. However, fishery managers want to avoid a “gold rush” for crabs, which could happen if the openings were staggered. Fishing managers have tentative Dec. 18 conference call scheduled to revisit the situation, with indications now pointing to a post-holiday start to fishing. In other news Vietnam will check if all of its pangasius producers are operating in compliance with standards set forth by the USDA’s imported catfish inspection program. Operators not in compliance will be instructed how to meet USDA standards. Meanwhile, FDA shrimp refusals in November were down again compared to record high rejection rates reported in the first eight months of the year. Far lower rejections since September coincide with sharp drops in Malaysian shrimp refusals for illegal antibiotic residues. Finally, Maine's 2016 shrimp season was called off with scientists concerned that warmer waters are slowing stock recovery rates in the Gulf of Maine. This is the fourth straight fishing moratorium for Maine’s shrimp season.