Reston, VA – October 9, 2025 – The parties to this lawsuit are strong proponents of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA.) They do not oppose it. They support its goals and want to see it responsibly and sensibly applied.
The MMPA’s final rule on “fish and fish product import provisions” was published in 2016. After ten years of assessing fisheries to determine whether they have equivalent marine mammal protections in place, NOAA released the results on September 2. Products from fisheries deemed not equivalent will be banned from the U.S. market on January 1st.
“After a decade of assessing fisheries, without stakeholder input, NOAA has given effected members of the seafood community only 4 months to come into compliance or face complete shutdown,” said Gavin Gibbons, Chief Strategy Officer for the National Fisheries Institute. “We are talking about U.S. processing and distribution businesses working with imported, raw materials that can’t be sustainably harvested at this volume in our own waters.”
Federal agencies are required to consider something called “reliance interests” when conducting rulemaking. This is an examination of how such policies might affect work done here and the market. In clear violation of the Administrative Procedures Act it appears NOAA did not do that.
“What’s more, banning these products is very likely to do more harm than good,” said Gibbons. “Shutting off commerce with fisheries gives up leverage and actually encourages selling to countries with little or no marine mammal protections. Fears about unintended consequences are very real.”
The plaintiffs in this suit are worried about the fate of the fisheries and are well known for spearheading effective, precompetitive work. Despite being excluded from NOAA’s assessment process they are experts in the target fisheries and have engineered market-driven sustainable sourcing changes for years. Along with concern for the resource, their businesses and hundreds of American jobs are at stake from Maryland and Virgina to North Carolina and Florida. Establishing a reasonable MMPA implementation plan is vital.
The lawsuit was filed tonight at the Court of International Trade in New York City.
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