The injunction handed down by the United States Court of International Trade applies to nine species from the West Coast North Island inshore trawl and set net fisheries, including snapper, tarakihi and spotted dogfish.

"The Court's ruling sends a strong signal to New Zealand and other countries that unless they can show their fisheries regulatory program is comparable to the U.S. regulatory program, they risk an import ban," the chairman of the board and chief executive of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society chief executive Pritam Singh said in a statement.