"The Trump administration set strict import bans on fisheries in more than 40 nations that do not meet standards for conserving marine mammals like whales and dolphins."
"It’s widely agreed that the United States has the most aggressive and successful regulations in place to conserve marine mammals. The majority of those are the result of the 53-year-old Marine Mammal Protection Act, which has helped safeguard animals such as whales, seals and otters from the detrimental impacts of fishing, pollution and overhunting.
Now, the Trump administration is more firmly laying down the hammer on other nations around the world, too. At the end of August, the National Marine Fisheries Service determined that certain fisheries in more than 40 nations do not meet marine mammal protection standards—and will not be allowed to export their catches to the U.S. until they do.
As the world’s biggest importer of fish, the U.S. holds significant sway over the global seafood market, and this decision marks a win for marine mammal conservation, environmental groups say. But some experts fear that proposed legislative changes to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and Trump administration layoffs at the agencies that enforce it could pose threats to these gains in the long term.
Seafood Sanctions: While the United States operates a number of its own fisheries, an estimated 80 percent of the seafood in the country is imported. This equates to more than $25 billion in seafood products from other nations annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "
Kiley Price reports for Inside Climate News September 9, 2025.
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