Agency Must Consider Import Ban on Dolphins, Whales, Suit Says

An animal rights group says the National Marine Fisheries Service unreasonably denied its petition to restrict the import of marine mammals despite the agency having the legal authority to do so.

Friends of Animals alleged the government ignored evidence that importing and holding cetaceans—marine mammals such as dolphins, whales, and porpoises—in captivity harms the animals’ welfare in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, according to a complaint filed Friday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The group petitioned the Fisheries Service in 2022 to issue new regulations that would restrict the import, export, breeding, and public ...