New US proposal risks undoing years of progress for right whale protection

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the rarest whales on Earth. With only around 380 animals left, and only about 70 reproductively active females, every preventable death matters. That is why a new move by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to revisit long-standing ship speed protections is causing such deep concern on both sides of the Atlantic.

NOAA has opened an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that explicitly considers “deregulatory” changes to the 2008 vessel speed rule. At present, most vessels 65 feet or longer must travel at 10 knots or less in key seasonal management areas along the US East Coast. NOAA says it wants to reduce regulatory burdens by looking at alternative management areas and technology-based strike avoidance measures. Public comments are open until 2 June.

Industry opposition to speed-limits has always been blunt. On its own NOAA advocacy page, the National Marine Manufacturers Association declares: “Technology, not an archaic speed rule, is the answer.” That is a striking way to describe one of the few proven measures that reduces the risk of whales being hit and killed by vessels.

It isn’t as if the threat is arguable. Vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglement remain the two biggest human-caused threats to right whales. NOAA’s own unusual mortality event record shows that since 2017, documented deaths, serious injuries and sublethal injuries have affected more than 20% of the population, and the agency notes that only around one-third of right whale deaths are ever documented.

This debate is not happening in a vacuum. As we reported this week, in late January, the young male right whale known as Division died from entanglement injuries off North Carolina. Just days later, another right whale - a three-year-old female and the calf of the whale Porcia - was found dead off Virginia. Against that backdrop, weakening one of the few proven measures that reduces collision risk feels not modern, but reckless.

The core problem with NOAA’s framing is that the substitute being hinted at is not yet proven. NOAA is asking for information on technologies that might help reduce strikes, but scientists and campaigners have warned that detection tools are still developing and cannot yet replace mandatory slowdowns. The US Marine Mammal Commission says 10-knot speed limits are the most effective way to reduce whale-strike mortality and serious injury, while recent research has also underlined the importance of a 10-knot threshold.

Even NOAA’s own right whale guidance says the current mandatory rule reduces the likelihood of deaths and serious injuries. The Marine Mammal Commission has also pointed to evidence that the East Coast right whale vessel-strike mortality rate fell after the rule was introduced.

What makes the proposed shift even more jarring is that Canada continues to maintain mandatory and temporary speed restrictions in parts of the Gulf of St Lawrence to protect right whales. In other words, while one part of the whales’ range is still relying on hard-won precautionary measures, the United States is considering stepping back from them.

There is a small measure of positivity: NOAA says 22 calves have been documented so far this calving season, the best total in years. But hope is not a policy. For a species this close to the edge, slowing ships in the places right whales are known to live and travel is not an outdated burden. It is common sense.

Suggested Sally Hamilton quote

“This proposal feels like a massive step backwards in right whale conservation. When a species is hanging on by a thread, you do not weaken one of the few measures proven to reduce lethal ship strikes. Innovation has a role to play, but unproven technology cannot be allowed to replace protections that save lives now.”