16 U.S.C. § 1372: Prohibitions

for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States or any vessel or other conveyance subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to take any marine mammal on the high seas; for any person or vessel or other conveyance to take any marine mammal in waters or on lands under the jurisdiction of the United States; or for any person to use any port, harbor, or other place under the jurisdiction of the United States to take or import marine mammals or marine mammal products; and for any person, with respect to any marine mammal taken in violation of this subchapter, to possess that mammal or any product from that mammal; that is taken in violation of this chapter; or for any purpose other than public display, scientific research, or enhancing the survival of a species or stock as provided for under sub section 1374(c) of this title ; and for any person to use, in a commercial fishery, any means or methods of fishing in contravention of any regulations or limitations, issued by the Secretary for that fishery to achieve the purposes of this chapter. pregnant at the time of taking; nursing at the time of taking, or less than eight months old, whichever occurs later; taken from a species or population stock which the Secretary has, by regulation published in the Federal Register, designated as a depleted species or stock; or taken in a manner deemed inhumane by the Secretary. taken in violation of this subchapter; or taken in another country in violation of the law of that country. the importation into the United States of the marine mammal from which such product is made is unlawful under paragraph (1) of this subsection; or the sale in commerce of such product in the country of origin of the product is illegal; Any fish, whether fresh, frozen, or otherwise prepared, if such fish was caught in a manner which the Secretary has proscribed for persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, whether or not any marine mammals were in fact taken incident to the catching of the fish. in the case of marine mammals or marine mammal products, as the case may be, to which subsection (b)(3) of this section applies, to such items imported into the United States before the date on which the Secretary publishes notice in the Federal Register of his proposed rulemaking with respect to the designation of the species or stock concerned as depleted; or in the case of marine mammals or marine mammal products to which subsection (c)(1)(B) or (c)(2)(B) of this section applies, to articles imported into the United States before the effective date of the foreign law making the taking or sale, as the case may be, of such marine mammals or marine mammal products unlawful. This chapter shall not apply with respect to any marine mammal taken before the effective date of this chapter, or to any marine mammal product consisting of, or composed in whole or in part of, any marine mammal taken before such date. It is unlawful for any person or vessel or other conveyance to take any species of whale incident to commercial whaling in waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.