1/5 🧵Still not ready: @NOAAFisheries 3d time extends seafood import exemption period, now end of 2025, when govts must obtain a finding that their fishery harvest methods mitigate marine mammal bycatch w effectiveness comparable to US fisheries management federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/17/2023-25399/modification-of-deadlines-under-the-fish-and-fish-product-import-provisions-of-the-marine-mammal twitter.com/CetaceanAction/status/1726305999018172786
2/5 Until then seafood comes in regardless of harvest impact on marine mammals. Comparability findings to be published annually in Fed Reg. IRONIC that so far comp fdgs 👍granted only for some fisheries in 2 countries - Mex & NZ - yet all now prohibited👎 & no exemption for them!
3/5 NZ ban is court-ordered: comp fdgs issued in 2020
federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/09/2020-24416/implementation-of-fish-and-fish-product-import-provisions-of-the-marine-mammal-protection were fought by @SeaShepherdSSCS. Comp fdgs expired Jan 2023, would have fallen under exemption extension, but SS won an injunction blocking imports in court. seashepherd.org/2022/12/08/a-win-for-endangered-species-sea-shepherd-lawsuit-succeeds-in-protecting-maui-dolphins/
4/5 MX Upper Gulf gillnetted seafood banned under court order in 2018, no exemption!
federalregister.gov/documents/2018/08/28/2018-18628/implementation-of-import-restrictions-certification-of-admissibility-for-certain-fish-products-from
While vaquita-safe fisheries got comp fdgs federalregister.gov/documents/2018/12/06/2018-26418/implementation-of-fish-and-fish-product-import-provisions-of-the-marine-mammal-protection
Which were later revoked in 2020 @NOAAFisheries as ineffectively regulated federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/09/2020-04692/implementation-of-fish-and-fish-product-import-provisions-of-the-marine-mammal-protection
5/5 Harsh reality is so far neither US nor MX regs have fostered vaquita-safe fishing. For UG shrimp, 99% of harvest is gillnetted, laundered in MX as legally caught w vaquita-safe gear, & then laundered into US w origin disguised as exempt shrimp caught legally elsewhere in MX
Cetacean Action Treasury
@CetaceanAction_1
Rescuing the vaquita porpoise and securing a sustainable fishing future for the Upper Gulf of California with Mexican partners