Conservation Groups Drop Suit Seeking Import Ban on Certain Fish From New Zealand

Conservation groups Sea Shepherd New Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit seeking an import ban on fish from New Zealand's West Coast North Island inshore trawl and set net fisheries under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (Sea Shepherd New Zealand v. U.S., CIT # 20-00112).

The move came after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued new comparability findings for the fisheries, finding that they have comparable level of environmental protections to what the U.S. has (see 2404010015). As a result of the new findings, the Court of International Trade lifted the injunction it imposed on the import of fish from the fisheries, though Judge Gary Katzmann said that the conservation groups could file a new lawsuit challenging the new comparability findings. Counsel for Sea Shepherd didn't immediately respond to a question regarding the group's future plans to file a new case.

As part of the stipulation of dismissal, the government agreed to pay the legal fees of the conservation groups. In all, the U.S. will pay the groups $375,000 under the Equal Access to Justice Act for the attorneys' fees.