Importers of Some Mexican Fish Must Say It Wasn't Caught With Gillnets

Fresh, frozen, dried, pickled and smoked fish, as well as shrimp, fish sticks, and fish meal, covered by dozens of Harmonized Tariff System codes, will be banned from import if any was caught in the Gulf of California unless importers sign a document that says no gillnets were used, CBP said in a CSMS message detailing the scope of the ban imposed on Aug. 14 (see 1808140013). Importers will need to sign a document that certifies that "to the best of my knowledge and belief, that the fish/fish products contained in this shipment are of species of fish or fish products, or from fisheries, not caught with gillnets deployed in the range of the vaquita, in the upper Gulf of California waters in Mexico." The ban is due to an injunction from the Court of International Trade. Nonprofits that brought the lawsuit hope such a ban will force Mexican fishermen to reform their practices, because gillnets have strangled and drowned vaquita porpoises, which are nearly extinct.