A fisherman catches swimming crabs off Phu Quoc Island, southern Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre
The NMFS said on Monday (U.S. time) that it had granted comparability findings for swimming crab fisheries in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, allowing continued exports to the U.S. market under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
The MMPA requires foreign fisheries to adopt protections for marine mammals equivalent to those in the United States.
The decision followed a September 2025 review by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of about 2,500 fisheries across 135 countries, which found 240 fisheries in 46 countries did not meet U.S. standards and would face import bans from January 1, 2026.
Vietnam was among the affected countries, with exports of 12 seafood categories, including tuna, swordfish, grouper, mackerel, squid, and swimming crab, initially banned due to their lack of recognition as equivalent under the MMPA across 12 fishing methods.
Vietnamese authorities later submitted additional documentation and fisheries data to seek recognition for swimming crab exports, which account for about 80 percent of the country’s crab shipments to the United States, Le Tran Nguyen Hung, deputy head of the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said in January.
U.S. data showed Vietnam exported 4,143 metric tons of swimming crabs to the United States in 2025.
Meanwhile, similar exports from the Philippines will be banned from mid-June over non-compliance with marine mammal protection standards.
The NMFS said the Philippines’ blue swimming crab fisheries using gillnets and pot or trap systems remained non-compliant because the country lacked mandatory reporting and monitoring programs for marine mammal injuries and deaths linked to fishing operations.
The Philippine ban is expected to block more than 2,000 metric tons of blue swimming crab exports to the United States.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said on May 5 that the country’s seafood exports rose 12 percent year on year to nearly US$3.6 billion in the first four months of 2026, although exports to the United States fell seven percent, making it the only major market to record a decline.
Vietnamese seafood exporters said shipments to the U.S. market had been affected by anti-dumping duties, stricter traceability and food safety requirements, and additional certification rules introduced from the start of 2026.
