Following negative certifications in the 2023 Report to Congress (see: 16 USC 1826a; 50 CFR §§ 300.200 – 300.209), effective 10 October 2024, certain fishing vessels from 17 States will be denied U.S. port privileges (port access & port services, subject to strict exceptions):
- Longline fishing vessels operating in International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) fisheries beyond national jurisdictions and flagged to Algeria, Barbados, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Namibia, Senegal, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, and Türkiye (Bycatch of Protected Living Marine Resources).
- Mexican-flagged vessels operating in gillnet fisheries in the Gulf of Ulloa (Bycatch of Protected Living Marine Resources). See further, port restrictions on all Mexican fishing vessels that fish in the Gulf of Mexico effective 7 February 2022, which remain in effect following continued 2023 negative certification (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing).
- Russian-flagged fishing vessels authorised under the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to target toothfish (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing).
- People’s Republic of China-flagged longline fishing vessels authorized under Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and ICCAT (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing).
This represents an expansion in the exercise of such port denials. Previously, the USA has rarely resorted to imposing measures because foreign States or Fishing Entities are generally given a positive certification in the Report to Congress following identification for IUU fishing, PLMRs bycatch or activities that target or incidentally catch sharks (Mexico previously being an exception).
De Maribus 