The U.S. has reopened its market to all imports of Irish seafood, finding that the country’s aquaculture and wild catch sectors meet stipulations outlined in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
Last year, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) found 240 foreign fisheries did not comply with MMPA regulations, which meant as of 1 January 2026, products from those fisheries would be banned from entering the U.S. market.
That initial finding included Ireland, with NMFS stating Ireland “did not provide sufficient documentary evidence regarding the prohibition on intentional killing of seals associated with its aquaculture fishery or tangle net fishery,” as well as “the circumstances surrounding future permitting exceptions for intentional lethal removal of nuisance seals associated with these fisheries.”
In response, Ireland submitted a new application for comparability findings for the denied fisheries.
“NMFS reviewed Ireland’s application and supporting documents and determined that Ireland’s aquaculture fishery and tangle net fishery are now comparable in effectiveness to the U.S. regulatory program,” NOAA said in a March release.
The updated finding is valid until December 2029.
The aquaculture desk of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) welcomed the dropping of restrictions, describing the U.S. market in a release as “strategically important for the sector, which has seen significant growth for Irish salmon producers and exporters in recent years.”
A spokesperson for Ireland’s seafood development agency Bord Iascaigh Mhara told SeafoodSource that while the E.U. remains the main buyer of Irish salmon, volumes have more than quadrupled to the U.S. since 2020.
“The U.S. market for Irish organic salmon is currently small, but it takes important size grades and offers exporters an important outlet to help diversify markets for high-value niche products such as Irish organic salmon,” the spokesperson said.
According to data from Bord Bia, the Irish food promotion agency, North American purchases of Irish seafood increased 208 percent year over year in value to EUR 7.4 million (USD 8.7 million) and increased 460 percent by volume to 2,600 metric tons in the first half of 2025.
Though the restrictions have been dropped, Bord Bia has still projected that 2026 will be a more difficult year for Irish salmon exports due to reduced production volumes and increased competition from “competitively priced” Norwegian organic salmon supply.
