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New Bill Would Gut Marine Mammal Protections
Rep. Nicholas Begich (R-AK) introduced a draft bill today that would eviscerate the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the sole federal law protecting marine mammals in
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Communities Push Back on Opening Waters for Oil Drilling
Defenders of Wildlife filed comments this week opposing new offshore oil drilling. More than 44 thousand public comments were submitted to the first comment period
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Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Sells Out Wildlife Along with American Lands and Waters
Defenders of Wildlife strongly condemns the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for selling out wildlife in its text for the upcoming budget reconciliation bill.
More North Atlantic Right Whale Press Releases
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New Population Estimate Illustrates the North Atlantic Right Whales’ Downward Trend
Today, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium announced that the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale’s population – now at 340, down from 348 – continues its decade-long decline. The species’ population has plummeted by 30% in the last decade, down from 481 in 2011. The latest estimate represents the whale’s lowest population estimate in 20 years.
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Court Upholds Federal Action to Protect Right Whales From Deadly Entanglements in Lobster Gear
A federal court has rejected a lobster industry attack on the science supporting recent federal efforts to protect critically endangered right whales from deadly entanglements in lobster gear. The industry sued NOAA Fisheries, and Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Conservation Law Foundation intervened to defend the science.
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Federal Proposal Aims to Protect Endangered Right Whales From Ship Strikes
NOAA Fisheries proposed a rule today to better protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from being run over and killed by vessels in U.S. waters. Vessel strikes are one of the two primary threats to right whales; the other is entanglement in fishing gear.
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Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Right Whales Seasonal Protection
In a victory for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals today reinstated a seasonal prohibition on lobster fishing with vertical lines in federal waters off the coast of Maine.
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Court: Federal Failure to Protect Right Whales from Deadly Entanglements Violates Law
A federal court ruled in favor of the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, and Defenders of Wildlife in a long-running case challenging NOAA Fisheries’ failure to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from deadly entanglements in American lobster fishing gear.
jcovey@defenders.org
