Abstract
This article analyses New Zealand’s legal engagement with the fish import provisions of the United States Marine Mammal Protection Act 1972 in relation to the critically endangered Māui dolphin. The provisions mandate a ban on imports of fish caught ‘with commercial fishing technology which results in the incidental kill or incidental serious injury of ocean mammals in excess of United States standards’. To avoid the ban, nations seeking to export to the United States must have a regulatory scheme for managing fishing-related mortalities that is comparable in effectiveness to the United States scheme. Overall, the New Zealand experience has followed previous experience and predictions, and New Zealand has increased its protective measures for Māui dolphins to achieve comparability with the United States. However, this increase has largely been due to work of non-governmental organisations and the United States Court of International Trade, and has not yet been completely successful.