A story by Bloomberg Law reports that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is delaying its expansion of the 2008 North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strike Reduction rule into 2024. This harmful proposal would create one of the largest restrictions on Americans’ access to public waterways, endanger boaters, and have a devastating impact on economies up and down the Atlantic Coast.
The American Sportfishing Association asks that readers note: There continues to be some confusion between the issues regarding the similarly named right whale in the Atlantic Ocean and the Rice’s whale in the Gulf of Mexico. Adding to the confusion is that both involve NOAA Fisheries. The story above deals with right whale vessel speed restrictions in the Atlantic. In the Gulf of Mexico, NOAA recently rejected a petition to establish a year-round 10-knot (11 miles per hour) vessel speed limit in the Rice’s whale “core” habitat.
