by Linda Straker
- In August 2025, NOAA Fisheries announced that Grenada fish and fish products exports would be banned
- Task Force set up to ensure assessments, review and recommendations completed by 21 November
- No objection to bill in Lower House; scheduled to receive approval of Upper House on 21 November
Marine Affairs Minister Lennox Andrews is hopeful that Grenada’s decision to amend its Fisheries Act and establish regulations that will make the island become compliant with the US Marine Mammal Protection Act will avert the ban of fish and fish products from Grenada to the USA.
“We are now in a position to submit the additional information for NOAA’s fisheries reconsideration and reversal of this determination by 1 January 2026,” Andrews told the Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday, 19 November 2025, while contributing to the debate on the amendment to the Fisheries Act, which was enacted in 1986, with amendments in 1989 and 1999.
In August 2025, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, through a notice in the Federal Register, announced that Grenada is one of 12 countries that will be banned from exporting its fish and fish products to the US due to not having a comparability finding from the NOAA Fisheries. This finding requires a nation to prove its fishing regulations and practices are equivalent to those of the United States, specifically in how they prevent the accidental capture of marine mammals.
The announcement of the ban resulted in the government establishing a Task Force with top fisheries personnel and a legal counsel to ensure that all the relevant assessments, reviews and recommendations are completed by 21 November 2025 with a view to averting the ban. Andrews said the members of the Task Force completed their task, and the presentation of the amended bill to the Parliament for approval by legislators is part of the recommendations.
“The passing of this bill today, Mr Speaker, is extremely paramount in our effort to avert; this is the decision coming to place early in the new year. The ministry would have done its work; we are at the point where there is a likelihood that the decision can be averted,” he told the session, pointing out that the recent shutdown of the US Federal Government affected the process because the government was unable to make direct contact with NOAA.
“I understand now, America is open for business and we are working with our ambassador in Washington Tarlie Francis to have that direct contact with NOAA, so we can not just present in writing but present physically in person with NOAA, all of this additional information that we have to avert the likelihood of that decision taking place,” said Andrews.
There was no objection to the bill in the Lower House, and it is now scheduled to receive the approval of the Upper House or Senate on 21 November. Grenada’s fisheries sector, according to Phillip Telesford, accounts for 6,000 jobs when direct and indirect employment are combined.
