Grenada’s seafood products can once again be exported to the U.S. after NOAA Fisheries issued the nation a Marine Mammals Protection Act (MMPA) comparability finding.
“What that means is that our fisher folks can now go out to sea and continue fishing,” Lennox Andrews, Grenada’s minister for economic development, planning, agriculture and lands, forestry, blue economy, marine resources, and cooperatives, said during a 18 March briefing. “But I want to say this, achieving this goal was no easy task. It required action with alacrity to set up a task force with specific limits and to collaborate with a number of people and institutions on a constant basis, as well as monitoring and reporting to cabinet on developments with NOAA.”
Starting in 2026, the U.S. requires other nations to be granted a comparability finding ensuring their fisheries have comparable marine mammal protections to the MMPA before exporting their seafood products to the U.S.
In announcing its comparability findings in August 2025, NOAA Fisheries revealed Grenada was one of 12 nations that had its entire slate of fisheries denied comparability findings. Nations that had been denied were invited to rectify problems identified by the agency and reapply for a comparability finding after 1 January, when their products would no longer be allowed into the U.S.
In November 2025, Grenada’s legislature approved a massive overhaul of the nation’s fisheries regulations in order to comply with U.S. law and regain access to that market. The legislation included increased penalties for violations, new observer requirements, and the authorization to enact conservation regulations. Grenada authorities are also working to introduce vessel monitoring technology.
Andrews said he received a letter from NOAA Fisheries dated 13 March confirming that the restrictions on Grenada’s fisheries had been lifted.
“I am pleased to inform you that NOAA Fisheries has completed its review of Grenada's comparability findings reapplication and any additional information submitted by Grenada and has found all of Grenada's fisheries ... to be comparable,” NOAA Fisheries said in the letter, according to Andrews.
That comparability finding will be valid through 31 December 2029, Andrews added.
Chief Fisheries Officer Nigel Gibbs said the government had updated its regulations to collect data on marine mammal interactions and improve its fisheries management to ensure NOAA Fisheries does not rescind the comparability finding.
“What is particularly requested now is that we fill out progress reports [and] that we would collect data from any marine mammal interaction,” Gibbs said. “So for that, we have devised, developed, and updated our fishing vessel logbooks, which the vessels have already started using as of December last year. We have also developed a marine mammal reporting form. So, there's a booklet, and on every trip, the vessels are supposed to record their catch and are supposed to record any interaction of any type and nature with marine mammals.”
The government is helping fishers transition from J hooks to circle hooks to help protect marine mammals, as well as requiring release kits on longline vessels that ensure marine mammals that are hooked can be released safely.
