The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard oral arguments in the appeal of a case brought by North Carolina Coastal Fisheries Reform Group and concerned citizens against corporate fishing trawlers. Plaintiffs argue that dead fish should be considered a pollutant for purposes of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and that fishing trawlers that dislodge dead fish into North Carolina's waterways as part of their bycatch should be held accountable for violating the CWA. A lower court had granted the defendant trawlers’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.