Petition to accelerate right whale protections rejected

By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer

(Feb. 3, 2023) While federal efforts to reduce right whale strikes through harsher boat speed restrictions across the East Coast are still on track, an emergency petition that would have implemented them right away has officially sunk.

According to a news release the Center for Biological Diversity issued on Jan. 20, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association Fisheries officials denied the advocacy group’s efforts to implement the pending regulations for the 2022-23 right whale calving season.

Group members filed an emergency petition in November to help prevent right whale strikes. They used a 2021 boat collision that killed

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EMERGENCY SERVICES FOR OUR CURRENT PATIENTS a right whale calf off the coast of Florida and likely fatally injured its mother as an example of why the regulations are needed sooner rather than later.

The release said NOAA Fisheries, also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, denied the petition because the federal agency “does not have the time and resources to effectively implement the emergency regulations.”

The news of the denial is good for local anglers, who have spoken out against the pending rules citing their potentially negative impact on commercial and recreational fishing.

NOAA Fisheries has proposed the restrictions, which are currently set for implementation at an unspecified

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