Marine Mammal Protection Act Import Rule Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection [IASI]
Implementing Import Provisions Under the MMPA Driving Factors for U.S. Action Objectives Recognized threat to marine mammals Swordfish Petition Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) provisions to prohibit fish imports from nations with unsustainable marine mammal bycatch The Secretary of the Treasury shall ban the importation of commercial fish or fish product from fish which have been caught with commercial fishing technology which results in the incidental kill or serious injury of ocean mammals in excess of United States standards. Reduce marine mammal bycatch associated with international commercial fishing operations, by requiring nations exporting fish and fish products to the United States to be held to the same standards as U.S. commercial fishing operations. Establish criteria for evaluating a nation s regulatory program for reducing marine mammal bycatch and the procedures nation must follow to receive authorization to import fish and fish products into the United States.
U.S. Identifies Foreign Fisheries Consultation Nations Develop Regulatory Program Nations Submit Progress Report U.S. Makes Comparability finding 4 yr review yes no Reapply Granted Denied
Final Rule to Implement Import Provisions under the Marine Mammal Protection Act Effective January 1, 2017 a 5-yr Exemption Period beings during which nations must: Provide information to classify fisheries in the List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) (2017, 2020) Develop their regulatory program (2017-2021..) Provide progress report mid-way through the exemption period (2019) Apply for a Comparability Finding to export to the U.S. (2021) Consultations - Early and Often / Anytime upon Request During preparation of the LOFF, After publication LOFF to provide fishery classifications and regulatory requirements; Preliminary comparability finding Upon denial or revocation of a comparability finding
Categories of Fisheries Fisheries classified as either export or exempt based on frequency of marine mammal bycatch Exempt Fisheries have a remote likelihood of or no known marine mammal bycatch 10% or less of any marine mammal stock s bycatch limit No regulatory program requirement except Export Fisheries have more than a remote likelihood of marine mammal bycatch Export Fishery = If insufficient information; or Export Fishery = gear type is gillnet, trawl, longline, or purse seine Develop a regulatory program comparable in effectiveness to U.S. regulatory program Exempt and Export Fisheries must prohibit intentional killing and serious injury of marine mammals
Comparability Finding Requirements Comparability Finding Conditions Within EEZ In Another State Fishery Registration Marine Mammal Stock and Bycatch Estimate Reporting and Monitoring Requirements Calculation of a Bycatch Limit Regulatory program to reduce bycatch below bycatch limit Take reduction plan (TRP) requirements Regional Fisheries Management Org. (RFMO) or Intergovernmental Agreement Requirements Or Alternative Measures Comparable in Effectiveness On the High Seas
Comparability Finding Issues Additional Considerations U.S. implementation of its regulatory program for similar marine mammal stocks and similar fisheries The extent to which nation has successfully implemented measures to reduce bycatch below the bycatch limit Whether measures have reduced or will likely reduce bycatch below the bycatch limit U.S. implementation of its regulatory program for similar Import Prohibitions Fail to receive or have comparability finding revoked Prohibit importation of fish and fish products from that fishery May require certification of admissibility from other fisheries of that nation with the same or similar fish products Intermediary Nations Triggered by Import Prohibitions Applies to processing nations Must demonstrate that they do not import prohibited product Or have tracking and verification procedures to ensure that it prohibit product is not exported to the U.S.
The List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) Reviewed information from 160 trading partners that export fish and fish products to the U.S. Eliminated 25 nations from the LOFF because fisheries do not fall within regulatory scope of rule LOFF is comprised of 138 nations 720 exempt and 3,270 export fisheries 2017 Focus List of Foreign Fisheries Sets stage for all regulatory actions going forward Demonstrates overall lack of bycatch information Prioritizes and identifies challenges and problem fisheries Separates harvesters from processors Useful to buyers and processors-- Information posted at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia including fact sheets and compliance guides
The List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) Top 20 exporting nations = Canada, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Chile, India, Vietnam, Ecuador, Mexico, Russia, Japan, Philippines, Peru, Argentina, Iceland, Honduras, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, United Kingdom Top products imported are shrimp, salmon, tuna Shrimp more than 39 nations, largely aquaculture, some trawl, not considered a bycatch threat Argentina, Canada, China, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Philippines, Costa Rica, Greenland, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Spain, Tunisia, El Salvador, Denmark, Belize, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Portugal, Singapore, Morocco, Australia, Brunei, Saudi Arabia
The List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) Salmon more than 22 nations, largely aquaculture, some gillnet and trawl, intentional killing at aquaculture facilities a problem Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, Faroe Island, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom; Denmark, Costa Rica, Vietnam, France, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Latvia, South Korea
The List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) Tuna more than 44 nations, longline, purse seine, handline, troll, managed under regional fisheries management organizations Purse seine intentional setting on cetaceans prohibited in Indian Ocean and Western/Central Pacific Longline interaction rate largely unknown, depredation is a problem Gillnet greatest threat in Indian Ocean Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, South Africa, Suriname, Canada, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, Ecuador, Spain, Thailand, Cape Verde, Ecuador, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, China, Barbados, Brazil, Guyana, Japan, Maldive Island, Marshall Islands, Panama, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Western Samoa, Turkey, Malta, Costa Rica, India, Croatia, Italy, El Salvador, Tunisia, Colombia, Solomon Islands, Grenada, Mozambique
The List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Ecuador have large numbers of small gillnet, purse seine, and trawl vessels with marine mammal bycatch. Panama 8 export fisheries, 2 exempt fisheries; shrimp trawl, tuna purse seine, and pelagic species longline flatfish trawl, corvine/mackerel purse seine bycatch unknown; corvina/mackerel, and lobster gillnet fisheries bycatch likely, estimates unknown Colombia 10 export fisheries, 0 exempt fisheries; shrimp trawl, tuna purse seine, and pelagic species longline bycatch unknown; pelagic species and groundfish gillnet bycatch of pygmy sperm whale, Tucuxi, bottlenose dolphins, Risso s dolphins, spotted dolphins likely significant
The List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) Ecuador 21 export fisheries, 6 exempt fisheries; tuna purse seine and longline fisheries bycatch unknown; shrimp trawl and purse seine fisheries bycatch unknown; small pelagic species purse seine bycatch unknown; small pelagic species, porgy, comber, sole, corvine, shrimp, rockfish gillnet and trammel net fisheries bycatch likely significant, vessels number in the 10s of thousands
The List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) Peru 70 export fisheries, 34 exempt fisheries; anchovy and sardine purse seine bycatch of South American sea lion, Burmeister's porpoise, common dolphin, long-beaked common dolphin, dusky dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, South American fur seal; anchovy and sardine and small pelagic species gillnet bycatch similar to purse seine estimates likely in the thousands; tuna gillnet, troll, longline bycatch unknown; Large pelagic species (dolphinfish and shark) longline bycatch unknown shark gillnet fisheries bycatch of Burmeister's porpoise, common dolphin, long-beaked common dolphin, dusky dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, likely in the thousands
The List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) Chile 46 export fisheries, 39 exempt fisheries; purse seine for anchovy, mackerel, herring bycatch of southern sea lion; longline for toothfish bycatch of killer whales, sperm whale, pilot whales; finfish trawl bycatch of southern sea lion and South American fur seal; crab traps bycatch of Peale s dolphin; drift gillnet for swordfish bycatch of common dolphin, pilot whales, Juan Fernandez fur seal; and southern sea lion likely significant
Take Home Message From the List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) Greatest bycatch threat is gillnet fisheries (set and drift) Difficult to mitigate Acoustics do not work for many cetaceans Alternative gears should be considered Trawl fisheries have demonstrated bycatch (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, France) The unknowns purse seine, longline, pot gear, and aquaculture using lines Bycatch estimates needed for these gears May be feasible mitigation measures (e.g., weak hooks, weak rope/line, safe release measures) Better estimates of bycatch are needed in all fisheries
Thank You! Nina Young Nina.Young@noaa.gov http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/species/marine_m ammals/mmpaloff.html Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection [IASI]