Defenders Calls Foul on Latest Bill Seeking to Delay Protections for the Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale

Defenders of Wildlife today is condemning the latest in a series of legislative attacks seeking to undermine conservation protections for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Sponsored by Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Representative Jared Golden (D-ME), HR 9436 would deny North Atlantic right whales additional protections from entanglements — the number one killer of adult right whales — by extending the current legislative moratorium on new fishing gear regulations from 2028 through 2035. Accidental entanglements in fishing gear lines, such as those used for lobster and crab traps in the Northeast, remain the single greatest threat to the species' survival and recovery.

“North Atlantic right whales can’t afford to wait another seven years for more protections,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. “Approximately 380 whales remain on Earth, and only 70 are breeding females. Entanglements occur so frequently that even when they don’t kill whales outright, the resulting chronic stress and injuries have caused birth rates to decline.”

Among its flaws, this proposed legislation:

• Does not address the fundamental legal problem: a federal district judge has already determined that the current regulations violate the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act;
• Ignores the work of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction team, a congressionally mandated stakeholder group that includes fishing industry representatives. The group has been reconvened to recommend consensus-based risk-reduction measures to inform the 2028 Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan rule;
• Prematurely extends the existing moratorium on new regulations, which do not expire until the end of 2028.

Background

• In December 2022, the Maine congressional delegation succeeded in adding a last-minute rider to the FY23 Consolidated Appropriations Act that delayed new regulations addressing entanglement in lobster and crab fishing gear through the end of 2028.
• The rider effectively nullified a federal court’s decision in litigation brought by Defenders and others that the 2021 rule amending the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan violated the ESA and MMPA.

The 2022 rider deemed the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan in compliance with the ESA and MMPA through the end of 2028, but set a deadline of December 31, 2028 for new regulations that comply with both statutes. HR 9436 would extend this deadline through the end of 2035. 

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