List of Foreign Fisheries
The List of Foreign Fisheries (LOFF) contains the foreign commercial fisheries identified by NOAA Fisheries that export fish and fish products to the United States. Fisheries on the LOFF have been classified as either “export” or “exempt” based on the frequency and likelihood of incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals.
NOAA Fisheries published its final 2020 List of Foreign Fisheries, as required by 50 C.F.R. § 216.24(h) implementing the Fish and Fish Product Import Provisions Section 101(a)(2) of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. Nations updated their fisheries information as part of their applications for comparability findings. For more information on the comparability finding determinations, see here.
- Final List of Foreign Fisheries, 2020
- Final List of Fisheries Deleted, Added or Switched in Classification, 2020
- Final List of Intermediary Nations and Products, 2020
- Final List Wherein MMPA Import Provisions Rule Not Applicable, 2020
- Federal Register Notice on the final 2020 List of Foreign Fisheries
The Import Provisions, which aim to reduce marine mammal bycatch associated with international commercial fishing operations, require foreign fisheries exporting fish and fish products to the United States to be held to standards comparable to those that govern U.S. commercial fishing operations.
About the List of Foreign Fisheries
The LOFF is an essential component in implementing the MMPA import provisions. To develop this list, NOAA Fisheries reviewed and considered, when available, multiple sources of information, including documentation provided directly by the nations or subsidiary jurisdictions. Fisheries are classified, based on their frequency of marine mammal bycatch, as either “exempt” or “export” fisheries. Exempt fisheries are fisheries that have no known or a remote likelihood of marine mammal bycatch and are exempt from instituting a regulatory program. Export fisheries are those fisheries with more than a remote likelihood of marine mammal bycatch or insufficient information available on marine mammal interactions.
The LOFF is organized by harvesting nation and other defining factors, including the geographic location of harvest, gear type, target species, or a combination thereof. It also includes a list of the marine mammals that interact with each commercial fishing operation, where known, and, when available, indicates the level of incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals in each commercial fishing operation. The entire list of these export and exempt fisheries, organized by nation (or subsidiary jurisdiction), constitutes the LOFF.
By December 31, 2025, a harvesting nation must apply for and receive a comparability finding for each of its export and exempt fisheries on the list to continue to export fish and fish products from those fisheries to the United States.
More information
- 2025 MMPA Comparability Finding Determinations
- Draft List of Foreign Fisheries, 2020
- Draft List of Fisheries Deleted, Added or Switched in Classification, 2020
- Draft List of Intermediary Nations and Products, 2020
- Draft List Wherein MMPA Import Provisions Rule Not Applicable, 2020
- Federal Register Notice on the 2020 Draft List of Foreign Fisheries
- Final List of Foreign Fisheries (with References and Detailed Information), 2018
- Final List of Intermediary Nations and Products, 2018
- Final List Wherein MMPA Import Provisions Rule Not Applicable, 2018
- Draft List of Foreign Fisheries - Abridged, 2017
- Draft List of Foreign Fisheries (with References and Detailed Information), 2017
- Draft List of Intermediary Nations and Products, 2017
- Draft List Wherein MMPA Import Provisions Rule Not Applicable, 2017
- Federal Register Information on the Draft List of Foreign Fisheries, 2017
Federal Register Notice Seeking Information to Develop a List of Foreign Fisheries (LFF), 1/2017