Conservation Groups Ask CIT for Stay While DOJ Mulls Proposal for Fees, Costs

Conservation groups Sea Shepherd New Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society asked the Court of International Trade on May 10 for another 30 days to settle the final issues in a case ultimately seeking an import ban on certain types of fish from New Zealand. The conservation groups said they sent the U.S. an offer to settle the matter of the groups' "claim for fees and costs in this case," and that DOJ is reviewing the offer under the agency's regulations (Sea Shepherd New Zealand v. United States, CIT # 20-00112).

Sea Shepherd brought the suit to contest the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 2020 findings that New Zealand's standards for its West Coast North Island inshore trawl and set net fisheries were comparable to U.S. regulations. U.S. law says if the foreign regulations aren't commensurate with U.S. law, the government can impose an import ban on fish from that region. The conservation groups had pointed to the threats to the Maui dolphin created by gillnet and trawl net fisheries in New Zealand.

In response to the suit, NOAA issued new comparability findings, declaring that New Zealand had established that its fisheries satisfy the provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (see 2403210028). Sea Shepherd now seeks fees and costs in the case, asking the court for more time to sort out its claim directly with DOJ.