NOAA Withdrew Plan To Extend Marine Speed Limit Zones To Protect Atlantic Right Whales Before Shitstain's Return

A federal plan to slow down boats to prevent collisions with endangered North Atlantic right whales recently hit the brakes. Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) withdrew a proposed set of rules that would have expanded existing vessel speed restrictions in certain waters across the U.S. Eastern Seaboard at times when the whales forage, mate and migrate each year. First proposed in 2022, the rule triggered a tidal wave of backlash from many boaters, fishers and the shipping industry, which claimed that the changes could hinder their businesses.

However, data shows that boat collisions are devastating right whale populations, representing one of the leading causes of death for the cetaceans alongside entanglements with fishing gear, an issue I’ve covered at length in the past. In recent years, the federal government has invested in a number of techniques to mitigate threats to the struggling species. Only around 370 North Atlantic right whales remain. A new investigation launched by an international trade commission last week will now evaluate whether the U.S. is failing its mandate to protect the endangered whale.

Whale School Zones: Each year, NOAA Fisheries enacts a number of fixed “Seasonal Management Areas”—the equivalent of school zones for whales—along the eastern coast from Florida to Maine. However, a number of right whales continue to die each year from vessel strikes. So in 2022, NOAA proposed a modified set of vessel speed restriction rules that would expand seasonal speed restriction zones in some regions, create mandatory “dynamic slowdown zones” when a high number of whales are present in an area and require smaller vessels to follow speed restriction rules that already apply to large vessels.

For more than two years, fishing and boating industry representatives fought for Congress to shoot down the potential expansion, while researchers and environmental groups urged the government to fast track it. Then, just a few days before President Donald Trump entered office, NOAA abandoned the proposal altogether.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012025/todays-climate-noaa-withdraws-boat-speed-limit-whales/