US government signs agreement ending lawsuit over marine mammal protections in foreign fisheries

A seal laying on the ice
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requires foreign fisheries to implement the same protections for marine mammals as U.S. fisheries before exporting to the U.S., but the U.S. government has repeatedly pushed back enforcement | Photo courtesy of Sergey Uryadnikov/Shutterstock
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The U.S. government has signed a legal agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Animal Welfare Institute demanding regulators block imports from foreign fisheries that are not adequately protecting marine mammals.

“I’m relieved other nations will finally be pressured to prevent whales and dolphins from getting caught in fishing nets. Entanglement is a huge threat to these animals’ survival,” CBD International Program Director Sarah Uhlemann said in a statement. “The United States has the power to use its enormous seafood market to help the world’s oceans, and it’s about time we started.”

The U.S.'s Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requires foreign fisheries to implement the same protections for marine mammals as U.S. fisheries before exporting to the U.S., but the U.S. government has repeatedly pushed back enforcement.

In 2023, NOAA Fisheries pushed back the enforcement date to 2026, claiming that it ...


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