Conservation groups want NOAA Fisheries to ban imports from foreign fisheries that are not adequately working to prevent marine mammal bycatch.
“By continuing to allow imports that do not meet U.S. standards, [NOAA Fisheries] NMFS chooses business as usual over the survival of some of the most amazing species on the planet,” Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Senior Attorney and Global Biodiversity Conservation Director Zak Smith said. “Because NMFS has failed to safeguard ocean biodiversity, future generations may never have the chance to protect invaluable marine life.”
A report jointly produced by the Center for Biological Diversity, NRDC, Animal Welfare Institute, and the Environmental Investigation Agency found that 11 nations have at least some fisheries that don’t meet U.S. standards for preventing whale and dolphin bycatch…