Multiple conservation groups are suing the federal government to protect marine mammals from bycatch in foreign fishing gear.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council and Animal Welfare Institute filed a lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. Court of International Trade against the departments of the Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security over alleged failures to enforce the imports provision of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The groups are seeking to protect marine mammals from bycatch in foreign fishing gear by requiring countries that export their seafood to the United States to provide evidence that their bycatch prevention measures meet U.S. fisheries standards.
They hope the lawsuit will force the federal government to implement a mandate in the act that would ban seafood imports from countries whose fisheries kill too many marine mammals.
