A coalition of US seafood companies and industry groups has asked the US Court of International Trade for a preliminary injunction to halt import prohibitions under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), which could block seafood from 240 foreign fisheries across 46 nations.
The request follows the coalition’s lawsuit against NOAA, submitted 9 October 2025, challenging the agency’s “comparability findings” that underpin the import restrictions. The plaintiffs say the prohibitions risk immediate economic harm to American businesses and jobs, particularly in seafood hubs from Maryland and Virginia to North Carolina and Florida.
Gavin Gibbons, Chief Strategy Officer of the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), one of the plaintiffs, said: “In so many cases with the implementation of this Act we’re not talking about ‘violations’ that put marine mammals at risk, we’re talking about box checking and regulatory equivalence rather than outcomes.
“Meanwhile, in the case of blue swimming crab there’s no domestic substitute that can feasibly replace the product. So, the consequence of failing to have a bureaucratic comparison is taking crab cakes off menus and putting Americans out of work. Is that what MMPA was designed to do?”
The coalition’s filing asserts that NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) determinations exceed the agency’s statutory authority and violate its own regulations. It claims the import prohibitions could cause immediate and irreparable harm, including business closures, layoffs, stranded inventory, breaches of supply contracts, and financing risks.
Despite the legal challenge, the coalition emphasises that it fully supports the objectives of the MMPA and does not oppose efforts to protect marine mammals. “We support the goals of the MMPA and want to see it responsibly and sensibly applied,” the filing states.
By seeking a preliminary injunction, the coalition aims to pause the import ban while the court reviews the lawsuit, arguing that immediate relief is necessary to prevent significant harm to the US seafood sector.
