Environmental groups sue to force government to finalize ship speed rules that protect rare whales
PORTLAND, Maine — A coalition of environmental groups has sued the federal government in an effort to force the finalization of ship speed regulations, which the groups say are critical to saving a vanishing whale species.
The proposed ship speed rules would require ships off the East Coast to slow down more often to help save the North Atlantic right whale. The whales number fewer than 360 and have largely declined in recent years due to ship strikes and entanglement in commercial fishing gear.
The environmental groups filed a request in federal court Tuesday to allow a paused lawsuit over ship speed regulations to proceed. Members of the groups have criticized the federal government for delays in releasing the final rules and said they hope to enforce a deadline through their lawsuit.
“The federal government has known for years that whales desperately need comprehensive protection from ship attacks, but has repeatedly pushed aside,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife, one of the groups involved in the lawsuit .
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced proposed ship speed rules in the summer of 2022. The rules would expand slow zones off the East Coast, forcing sailors to slow down. They would also require more ships to comply with these rules.
NOAA is still working to finalize the rules, said Andrea Gomez, a spokesperson for the agency. Gomez said the agency cannot comment on the lawsuit itself.
“Although NOAA Fisheries expected to take action on the proposed rule to change the speed rules for North Atlantic whaling vessels in 2023, the rulemaking process remains ongoing,” Gomez said.
Members of the environmental groups said they were motivated to file lawsuits in part because of recent injuries and deaths among whales that migrate along the East Coast. One whale found dead off the coast of Massachusetts in January showed signs of chronic entanglement in fishing gear, scientists said. Environmentalists, commercial fishermen and the federal government have also been in court for years over laws intended to protect the whales from entanglement.
The whales were once abundant off the east coast, but were decimated during the era of commercial whaling. In recent years, scientists have said climate change poses a threat to the whales because the varying locations of the food they eat causes them to stray from protected areas in the ocean.
“It is heartbreaking and extremely frustrating to see North Atlantic right whales being injured while federal agencies enforce a speed limit,” said Catherine Kilduff, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, another group involved in the lawsuit .