NEW YORK— Conservation groups sued several federal officials and departments today in the U.S. Court of International Trade over their failure to implement the import provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The provisions’ purpose is to protect marine mammals from bycatch in foreign fishing gear by holding countries exporting seafood to the United States to the same standards as U.S. fisheries.

The lawsuit was filed by the Animal Welfare Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Natural Resources Defense Council against the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (and their respective leaders). The suit seeks a court order directing the government to implement the Act’s mandate to ban seafood imports from countries whose fisheries kill too many marine mammals.

“The U.S. government has violated the MMPA for far too long, causing significant harm to marine mammals worldwide,” said Kate O’Connell, senior policy consultant for the Animal Welfare Institute’s Marine Wildlife Program. “It is reprehensible that more than half a century after the MMPA was enacted, Americans are still buying seafood dinners with an invisible side of whale, dolphin, porpoise, or seal. Enough is enough.”

Approximately 70% to 85% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported from over 130 countries, including Canada, Indonesia, Ecuador and Mexico. The United States is the largest seafood importer in the world, with more than $21 billion worth of seafood products imported annually, accounting for more than 15% of the global value of all marine food products in trade.

Congress enacted the law in 1972 and included provisions about protecting marine mammals from bycatch and banning seafood imports from noncompliant fisheries. But NMFS did not adopt a rule to implement these provisions until 2016.

This import rule, as it is known, requires foreign fisheries to provide evidence that their bycatch prevention measures meet U.S. standards. The rule initially included a five-year exemption period to give countries sufficient time to assess marine mammal stocks, estimate bycatch, and develop rules to reduce bycatch. After that time, NMFS was supposed to determine whether countries’ fisheries were meeting U.S. standards and, if they were not, the U.S. government was supposed to ban imports from noncompliant fisheries.

In 2020 the agency extended implementation of the rule by one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then it has delayed implementation twice more, and the ban on harmful fishery imports is now on hold until Jan. 1, 2026.

“The Marine Mammal Protection Act sets a strong international standard for preventing bycatch, but the United States has been ignoring it and abandoning the iconic ocean animals it’s supposed to protect for more than half a century,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Whales and dolphins being caught in fishing nets around the world can’t afford any more delays. It’s long past time for the federal government to stop dragging its feet and start banning seafood imports from countries harming too many marine mammals.”

Marissa Grenon Gutierrez, of Anderson & Kreiger LLP, a Boston-based law firm representing the conservation groups, said, “As climate change puts increasing pressure on ocean ecosystems, it is more important than ever to mitigate harms to marine mammals that are within our control. Bycatch is a leading global threat to marine mammals — one that we can work to address using the powerfully protective framework of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.”

For decades bycatch has posed the single greatest threat to marine animals worldwide. Each year more than 650,000 dolphins, whales, seals, and other marine mammals die or are seriously injured in fishing gear. Ensnared in nets, entangled in fishing lines or snagged on fishing hooks, these animals are considered bycatch from commercial fisheries targeting a variety of other species, including consumer favorites such as swordfish, tuna, shrimp and crab.

Caught marine mammals often drown from entanglement or die on board fishing vessels before their bodies are tossed aside. Those who manage to wriggle out of fishing gear may suffer serious injuries such as cuts, broken bones, and amputations. Suffering for these animals can be prolonged, with some animals dying weeks or months after they’re entangled.

Implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act import provision now and requiring other countries to meet the same standards as U.S. fishers would help level the playing field and provide a powerful incentive for countries around the globe to better protect marine mammals.

“Americans love whale- and dolphin-safe seafood, and U.S. fishers take pride in putting more sustainable food on our tables,” said Zak Smith, director of global biodiversity conservation at NRDC. “But our government continues to let foreign fisheries peddle their whale- and dolphin-killing fish in the US market, while taxpayers and fishers spend millions domestically to do the right thing.”

The conservation groups are represented by Anderson & Kreiger LLP and by in-house attorneys at the Center for Biological Diversity and NRDC.