March 6, 2020 — US importers of Mexican shrimp and other seafood should soon be prepared to present documentation certifying that any of the products they are bringing over the border do not match a list of roughly five species caught in the upper Gulf of California using multiple gear types.
The US’ National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced Wednesday that it will ban the import of virtually all Mexican shrimp and other fish caught in that region of the country over concerns about the endangered vaquita porpoise. An effective date has not yet been set, but it is expected to be within a month and require importers to maintain a “certification of admissibility” that is signed by a Mexican government official establishing that the products being shipped are not from the upper Gulf of California’s:
- shrimp trawl fishery, for both small and large vessels;
- shrimp suripera fishery;
- sierra purse seine fishery;
- sierra hook and line fishery;
- chano trawl fishery, for small vessels;
- curvina purse seine fishery; or
- sardine/curvina purse seine fishery, for both small and large vessels.