Why It Matters: The recreational boating and fishing community understands the importance of protecting North Atlantic right whales (NARW) and fully supports efforts to do so. However, a new proposed rule regarding vessel speed reductions along much of the Atlantic seaboard will have significant implications for offshore anglers and boaters at certain times of the year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently committed to providing $82 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds towards protecting the NARWs, and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) wants to ensure those funds are used to support efforts already underway to find solutions for both whales and anglers/boaters.
Highlights:
- Although the chances of a recreational vessel striking a NARW are extremely small, a proposed rule that would require boats 35 feet and longer to go no more than 10 knots from the shoreline to as far as 90 miles offshore would virtually shut down access for offshore anglers for up to seven months of the year.
- CSF and partners have been advocating for better alternatives for right whale conservation using existing and emerging technologies that further reduce the already minute risk of a vessel strike by a recreational vessel.
- NOAA’s recent announcement of $82 million in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act for right whale conservation offers an opportunity to accelerate ongoing efforts by the industry to find real solutions for whales and boating access to the Atlantic.
The North Atlantic right whale (NARW) is an endangered species in need of conservation, and the fishing and boating community fully supports efforts to conserve NARWs and recognizes the role we have to play in their recovery. However, a draconian, overly precautionary proposed rule under consideration by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to implement a 10-knot speed limit over vast swaths of the Atlantic Ocean for vessels 35 feet and longer presents significant challenges for angling and boating access and coastal economies.
CSF and partners in the fishing and boating community have been advocating for a real time monitoring program to inform any changes to the rule. Temporary, dynamic speed zones around areas specific to the locations of NARWs is a much more reasonable and effective approach to conserving whales while not hampering offshore access for millions of angler trips each year.
NOAA recently announced $82 million would be available in grant funding for conservation of NARW’s. CSF and our partners followed that announcement with a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo recommending that a portion of that funding be directed to efforts such as new technologies for vessels to detect and share whale location information that is already being pursued by the Whale and Vessel Safety Taskforce (WAVS), developing predictive models for whale locations using artificial intelligence, and increased education and outreach to boaters.
