3 Conservation Groups Move to Intervene in Suit on Looming Import Ban on 240 Fisheries
Three conservation advocacy groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Animal Welfare Institute, moved to intervene in a case from a group of seafood product companies against the National Marine Fisheries Service's comparability findings of 240 fisheries across 46 nations, which will lead to an import ban from the fisheries. The advocacy groups also moved the Court of International Trade for an expedited consideration of their intervention motion so that they can take part in the court's expedited consideration of the seafood companies' motion for a preliminary injunction against the comparability findings (National Fisheries Institute v. United States, CIT # 25-00223).
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Judge Joseph Laroski agreed to speed up consideration of the group's intervention motion, ordering the existing parties in the case to file a reply by Oct. 29. The government's response to the seafood companies' preliminary injunction motion is due on Oct. 30, and the court will hold a hearing on the preliminary injunction by Nov. 5 (see 2510230013).
The seafood companies filed suit to contest the comparability findings under both the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Administrative Procedure Act (see 2510140025). The companies filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the comparability findings, arguing that they will suffer "immediate and compounding harm, including the risk of 'immediate layoffs, collapsing supply chains, and the permanent loss of customers and business viability' as the January 1, 2026 effective date nears." Laroski rejected the government's bid to stay the case in light of the federal government shutdown due to the scale of the harm alleged by the seafood companies.
In their motion to intervene, the three conservation groups said they have an interest in "minimizing harms to marine mammals from bycatch in foreign fisheries that export seafood to the United States." The groups said the government failed to implement the MMPA's requirements for years, letting "thousands of foreign fisheries to continue to engage in harmful fishing practices and sell their fish to the U.S. market." It was only the action of the conservation groups that got the government to enforce the MMPA's import provisions, the brief said.