Judge backs move blocking shipments of UK-caught Chilean sea bass from entering the US

A U.S. federal judge has backed NOAA's decision to block two shipments of U.K.-caught Chilean sea bass from entering the U.S.U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Timothy M. Reif has approved a request from Southern Cross Seafoods to transfer its lawsuit against the U.S. government and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, stating the court on which he serves does not have jurisdiction to decide whether the restrictions the Houston, Texas, U.S.A.-based importer faced in bringing U.K.-caught Chilean sea bass into the U.S. were legal.Southern Cross received two shipments of Chilean sea bass caught by U.K. vessels off the coast of South Georgia Island – a U.K.-controlled island around 1,400 kilometers east of the Falkland Islands – in September 2022. The fish was caught via licenses issued by the U.K. government outside of catch limits set by the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living ...