Court grants ban of fish imports from Mexico caught with nets that hurt endangered porpoise

BY MIRANDA GREEN - 07/26/18 12:14 PM EDT



© Getty Images


A trade court Thursday ordered the Trump administration to implement a ban on seafood imports from Mexico caught with a method tied to harming an endangered porpoise species.

The United States Court of International Trade ruled that the government must ban Mexican imports of seafood caught using gillnets, a fishing technique that has been found to injure and kill the critically endangered vaquita porpoise.

Scientists believe there are only 15 vaquitas left in the wild, which could leave the species extinct by 2021.

The court denied the Trump administration's motion to dismiss the case, writing, "Evidence shows that vaquita are killed by gillnet fishing and are on the verge of extinction: because the statutory duty to ban fish imports resulting in such excessive marine mammal bycatch is mandatory, the Government must comply with it."

More:
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/398995-court-grants-ban-of-fish-imports-from-mexico-caught-with-nets-that