Conservation groups sued federal officials and departments August 8 in the U.S. Court of International Trade for allegedly failing to implement the import provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The act aims to protect marine mammals from being killed as bycatch in foreign fishing gear by requiring foreign fisheries importing to the U.S. to adhere to the same standards as U.S. fisheries.
The suit said the import rule became law in in 1972 but not until 2016 did National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have a rule to implement the provisions. Initially, the rule provided a five-year exemption period to give countries sufficient time to assess marine mammal stocks, estimate bycatch, and develop rules to reduce bycatch, but it was extended in 2020 because of COVID-19. After that time, NMFS was supposed to determine whether countries’ fisheries were meeting U.S. standards and, if they were not, the U.S. government was supposed to ban imports from noncompliant fisheries.
But, the suit said, it has delayed implementation twice more, and the ban on harmful fishery imports is now on hold until Jan. 1, 2026. The suit said bycatch poses the single greatest threat to marine animals worldwide, with more than 650,000 dolphins, whales, seals, and other marine mammals killed or are seriously injured in fishing gear.
“The U.S. government has violated the MMPA for far too long, causing significant harm to marine mammals worldwide,” said Kate O’Connell, senior policy consultant for the Animal Welfare Institute’s Marine Wildlife Program. “It is reprehensible that more than half a century after the MMPA was enacted, Americans are still buying seafood dinners with an invisible side of whale, dolphin, porpoise, or seal. Enough is enough.”
The lawsuit was filed by the Animal Welfare Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Natural Resources Defense Council against the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (and their respective leaders). It seeks a court order directing the government to implement the Act’s mandate to ban seafood imports from countries whose fisheries kill too many marine mammals.
The suit cited the National Resource Defense Council which reported that the U.S. imports more than $21 billion worth of seafood products annually, accounting for more than 15% of the global value of all marine food products in trade. Also, approximately 70% to 85% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported from over 130 countries, including Canada, Indonesia, Ecuador and Mexico.
Marissa Grenon Gutierrez, of Anderson & Kreiger LLP, a Boston-based law firm representing the conservation groups, said, “As climate change puts increasing pressure on ocean ecosystems, it is more important than ever to mitigate harms to marine mammals that are within our control. Bycatch is a leading global threat to marine mammals — one that we can work to address using the powerfully protective framework of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.”
Forcing the government to act could also benefit U.S. fisheries that are forced to comply with the rules.
“Americans love whale- and dolphin-safe seafood, and U.S. fishers take pride in putting more sustainable food on our tables,” said Zak Smith, director of global biodiversity conservation at NRDC. “But our government continues to let foreign fisheries peddle their whale- and dolphin-killing fish in the US market, while taxpayers and fishers spend millions domestically to do the right thing.”
