CIT Orders Status Conference After Conservation Groups Drop Suit on Import of New Zealand Fish

The Court of International Trade ordered that a status conference be held in a case 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 after the plaintiffs filed a stipulation of dismissal (Sea Shepherd New Zealand v. U.S., CIT # 20-00112).

Conservation groups Sea Shepherd New Zealand and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society moved to voluntarily dismiss the case after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued new comparability findings for the fisheries, which said they have a comparable level of environmental protections to what the U.S. has (see 2408260009). As a result of the new findings, the trade court 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.

In a text-only order responding to the conservation groups' stipulation, Katzmann ordered a status conference be held on Sept. 10 and that the conference "will be limited to the topic of the proposed order."