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The U.S. Court of International Trade has stayed NOAA’s planned January 1, 2026, import ban on blue swimming crab from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka—a major development for seafood importers and restaurant operators who depend on these key overseas fisheries.

 Key Takeaways

• Import Ban Paused: The scheduled January 1, 2026, import ban is officially stayed, allowing the continued import of blue swimming crab from the four countries.
• Court Oversight Maintained: The court retains jurisdiction to monitor compliance and enable legal action if commitments are not met.
• Regulatory Review Timeline: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will reconsider its prior findings within 60 days of the government reopening, with new public determinations expected within 180 days.

Without this stay, the industry anticipated significant disruptions. The ban could have caused domestic blue crab prices to surge as much as 300 percent, putting additional strain on seafood suppliers and restaurant operators.

Background

The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and several seafood companies filed a lawsuit against NMFS earlier this fall, challenging the agency’s determinations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). NMFS had ruled that 240 foreign fisheries, including major blue swimming crab producers, failed to meet MMPA equivalency standards—a decision that would have blocked imports from those fisheries beginning January 2026. SeafoodSource

These fisheries supply roughly 89 percent of the 62 million pounds of pasteurized blue swimming crab imported into the U.S. each year. NFI Chief Strategy Officer Gavin Gibbons told SeafoodSource:

“It’s devastating, and these are facts; this isn’t arguing opinions. It would be totally, physically impossible to harvest that much crab from U.S. waters in order to make up the difference.” SeafoodSource

The Settlement

In a settlement filed with the U.S. Court of International Trade, NFI and NMFS agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in exchange for NMFS agreeing to re-examine its findings for the swimming-crab fisheries of Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. During this review, the import ban will remain stayed.

The agency will consult with the affected nations within 60 days, allowing them to provide additional information, and will now accept input from other stakeholders—a process NFI had previously criticised NMFS for excluding.

“We are, on behalf of all the plaintiffs, pleased with the outcome and commend the Department of Justice for working during a difficult period to bring this to a successful resolution and avoid irreparable harm to some of the most storied American seafood companies,” Gibbons told SeafoodSource.

“The parties made the decision to settle the case in order to ensure the responsible implementation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which was our goal all along.”

Meanwhile, Supreme Crab & Seafood CEO Troy Turkin, whose company would have been directly impacted by the ban, added:

“It was never intention to get the thing repealed, we certainly support protecting the marine mammal population. I’m happy that the outcome was, for lack of a better word, victorious.”

“That process has started to happen,” he said of his company’s operations now that the ban will no longer take effect January 1.

Industry Reaction

While crab importers welcomed the decision, domestic fishing organisations expressed frustration, viewing the settlement as a setback for U.S. fisheries. Among them, the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) said:

“We’ve had enough of the delays, enough of the one rule for our foreign competition and different, more exacting standards for American fishermen. Failed federal policy is driving the U.S. commercial fishing industry out of business,” SSA Deputy Director Blake Price said. “What we have all learned today is that as a unified voice, America’s commercial fishermen must collectively fight back against unfair import trade to ensure the long-term survival of our industries.”

The SSA further noted that as foreign crab imports increased over the last two decades, the domestic industry has seen continued declines. Blue crab numbers in the Chesapeake Bay remain low, with recent estimates putting the total population at 238 million crabs—just above an all-time low set in 2022.

What’s Next

As NMFS reopens its review, stakeholders across the seafood and hospitality industries will be watching closely. For now, imports of blue swimming crab from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka remain legal—providing much-needed stability for seafood suppliers and restaurant operators heading into 2026.