The United States Court of International Trade made a key ruling that provides a glimmer of hope for the survival of the smallest and rarest dolphin in the world.
The Māui dolphin is found exclusively on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island, and it's estimated that only around 50 or fewer remain in the wild. They are vulnerable to commercial trawling practices that take little account of bycatch.
Per the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the United States is legally obligated to ban seafood imports from fisheries that harm marine mammals. However, the U.S. government has been allowing imports from two problematic fisheries in New Zealand.
That prompted a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice and Law of the Wild on behalf of local conservation groups in December 2024.
The court ultimately ruled in the plaintiffs' favor, and the verdict's language was damning.
It read: "The Court's earlier analysis of the Decision Memorandum revealed that NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) failed to consider the relevant aspects of the problem that were statutorily required, failed to support its determinations with record evidence, and failed to provide satisfactory explanations for its determinations. The deficiencies in the Decision Memorandum are severe."
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The legal victory will have significant long-term implications for the standard set for findings under the Marine Mammal Protection Act that will benefit all marine mammals, but there's still a very long road ahead for the Māui dolphin. They are very closely related to Hector's dolphin, which is also rare and vulnerable to bycatch, disease, and pollution.
The Māui dolphin has a short lifespan by dolphin standards — around 20 to 25 years — and only reproduces every two to four years. Worse still, females reach reproductive age quite late in life, between around five and nine years old.
Even in optimal conditions, its numbers can only increase by one individual annually, according to New Zealand's Department of Conservation.
The ruling means that decisive local action and public education are needed to give the dolphin a fighting chance.
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Definitely 👍 In a press release, Sabrina Devereaux, an attorney for Earthjustice, hailed the outcome.
"We are thrilled about the Court of International Trade's decision, and what it means for the Māui dolphin," Devereaux said. "This decision affirms what the law intends — that the U.S. government must not facilitate the extinction of marine mammal populations."
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