Court restores protections for endangered whale species to prevent entanglement in fishing gear
A pair of North Atlantic right whales interact at the surface of Cape Cod Bay, in Massachusetts, on March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File, NOAA permit # 21371, File)
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Commercial fishermen who hoped for a loosening of fishing regulations during President Donald Trump’s administration faced a setback when a federal appeals court reinstated rules meant to protect a dwindling whale species from getting entangled in fishing gear.
The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision on Thursday and reinstated the protections. The lower court had ruled against a federal law banning lobster fishing in a 200-nautical-mile area off the New England coast from Feb. 1 to April 30 annually.
Lethal entanglement in lobster fishing gear is one of the biggest threats to the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers less than 380 and is in decline. The other major threat is collisions with large ships.
The winter fishing ban is important to the whales’ survival because it takes place during months in which the giant animals are present in large numbers off the New England coast, said a group of environmental organizations that sued to reinstate the closure. The appeals court decision “represents a major victory for right whale conservation,” said Jane Davenport, a senior attorney with Defenders of Wildlife, one of the groups that sued.
The closure “affects only a handful of lobstermen for three months but protects right whales from the deadly fishing gear entanglements driving this species towards extinction,” Davenport said.
The court’s decision arrived at a time when some in the seafood and other maritime industries say they are hopeful Trump is more responsive to their needs. The shipping industry scored a win days before Trump took office because the federal government withdrew a proposal that would have required more ships to slow down in East Coast waters to protect the whale. Authorities said there was no way to implement the rules before Trump took office.
Commercial fishermen are deciding how to respond to the appeals court ruling about lobster fishing, said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association.
“While we are disappointed at the ruling handed down today we are working with our counsels on what our options are for our next move,” Casoni said.
The right whale was once abundant off the East Coast but was decimated during the commercial whaling era generations ago and has been slow to recover. Some scientists have said warming ocean temperatures are a problem for whales because they cause the animals to stray from established protected zones in search of food.