NRDC Advocacy Pushes U.S. to Ban Seafood Imports that Threaten Whales and Dolphins

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Marine Fisheries Service announced that certain seafood products from more than 40 nations will be barred from entering the U.S. market because foreign fisheries are failing to meet U.S. standards for protecting whales and dolphins. The bans, which apply to countries including Mexico and Venezuela, represent the first large-scale enforcement of long-ignored provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

Following is a reaction from Zak Smith, director of global biodiversity conservation and senior attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): 

“If you want to sell your seafood in the US, it is only fair that you live up to the same strict marine mammal protections that other fishermen abide by. And if you can't do that, you shouldn't have a market here, or anywhere else, for that matter. The promise of the Marine Mammal Protection Act is that seafood sold in the United States comes only from commercial fisheries that do not kill or seriously injure marine mammals. U.S. consumers and fishermen deserve nothing less, and today’s action brings us closer to that promise.” 

This decision follows years of NRDC-led advocacy and litigation to force the federal government to implement the Marine Mammal Protection Act. For decades, the Fisheries Service failed to require that imported seafood meet the same standards U.S. fishers follow to prevent whale and dolphin deaths.  

Globally, more than 650,000 marine mammals are killed each year in fishing gear such as gillnets, longlines, and trawls. By finally enforcing U.S. law, today’s action pressures other nations to curb this deadly bycatch and raises the bar for seafood production worldwide.  

With over $25.5 billion in seafood imports annually—80 percent of what Americans eat—U.S. market power is a powerful tool to drive change. Working with partners, NRDC secured this long-overdue step through petitions, lawsuits, and international advocacy, delivering on the MMPA’s promise to keep U.S. markets free of seafood tied to marine mammal deaths.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).