Ireland will no longer be able to export farmed salmon to the USA

According to a recent statement from the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA), as of 1 January 2026, aquaculture-origin salmon and spiny lobster will no longer be allowed to be exported from Ireland to the United States.

This decision was made by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), following a comparability assessment of the legislation of countries exporting fishery products to the United States.

Specifically, NOAA considers that Ireland does not meet the required equivalence due to a provision in the Wildlife Act, which does not comply with the relevant US legislation in this area.

In addition, export consignments of similar products must be accompanied by a Certificate of Admissibility (COA), a document that essentially certifies that the shipments do not contain aquaculture-origin salmon or common spiny lobster.

Already in September, NOAA Fisheries announced that the United States will ban seafood imports from hundreds of foreign fisheries that do not meet its marine mammal protection standards.

The decision comes under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), which requires foreign fisheries to demonstrate that their practices to prevent harm to marine mammals are comparable to those used by US fleets.

According to the Business of Seafood 2024 report by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland's seafood development agency, the country’s seafood economy grew to €1.24 billion in GDP terms in 2024, marking a 4% increase compared to the previous year.