Pallone Urges Congressional Leaders to Prioritize the Protection of Endangered Whales

Washington, DC - Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) sent a letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders urging them to block controversial language that would bar the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from creating safeguards to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW). There are currently an estimated 360 NARWs remaining, including fewer than 70 reproductively active females, as climate change and human activity continue to threaten the survival of the species.

The Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act required NOAA to create a vessel speed rule, which mandates all vessels 65 feet and longer to travel at a speed of ten knots or less in certain times and places to protect the NARW from injury or death. In 2022, NOAA announced proposed changes to the vessel speed rule to reduce harm from strikes by vessels between 35 and 65 feet long.

The House Republican language would prohibit NOAA from completing this update until new technologies that do not yet exist have been implemented as conservation measures. The language would undermine the federal rulemaking process and deny the agency the opportunity to revise the draft rule in accordance with public feedback and comments. Pallone has urged NOAA to take into consideration the concerns of fishing and recreational boaters. However, the provision would prevent NOAA from fulfilling its congressionally mandated obligations to reduce mortalities and injuries to NARWs.

"Requiring adoption of technologies in the early stages of development as a precursor to federal rulemaking sets a dangerous precedent and is counter to Congressional mandates that NOAA take action to prevent the North Atlantic right whale's extinction under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act," Pallone wrote. "We must give NOAA the opportunity to revise the draft rule in accordance with the voices of interested Americans and key stakeholder groups, including recreational and fishing communities that I have long supported. We must not let the North Atlantic right whale become the first baleen whale on Earth to go extinct on our watch."

Pallone has been a vocal advocate for urgent action to protect marine mammals, including the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. He demanded that the Coast Guard and NOAA enforce existing speeding restrictions on large vessels that break the law, injuring and killing NARWs and other marine mammals.

He also advocated for federal funding to support the conservation and protection of whales and to address vessel strikes and entanglements, including the important technology development process. The U.S. Department of Commerce devoted $82 million in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations that will allow NOAA to use near real-time monitoring to track whales and reduce the risk of vessel strikes and entanglements - the leading causes of preventable whale deaths.

A copy of the letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders is available HERE.