Bush Administration Delays Protection as Population Hovers on the Brink of Extinction
WASHINGTON – Today, Defenders of Wildlife, The Humane Society of the United States and Ocean Conservancy filed new litigation to force the National Marine Fisheries Service to require ships to slow down in certain areas to avoid fatal collisions with critically imperiled right whales. The action comes two years after NMFS proposed regulations needed to ensure the continued survival of the right whale and a full year after NMFS promised to finalize those regulations.
"We have been forced by the Bush administration's inaction to once again return to court in order to gain protections for a species that hangs on the brink of extinction," said Andrew Hawley, staff attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. "Our litigation is necessary because this administration is more willing to listen to the shipping industry than it is to listen to its own scientists."
Jonathan R. Lovvorn, vice president of animal protection litigation for The HSUS, said, "Right whales are literally being run into the ground by the commercial shipping industry. We would prefer to work cooperatively with the administration to save this species, but with less than 400 remaining right whales, they can't afford to wait for any more broken promises."
The lawsuit seeks to have NMFS either complete the rulemaking process it began in 2006 or implement speed restrictions on an interim basis until the rulemaking is complete. It has been seven years since NMFS acknowledged that "the loss of even a single individual may contribute to the extinction of the species," and four years since the agency issued an "Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking," announcing its intention to slow and reroute ships in right whale habitat. Since then, no fewer than 10 right whales have been reported dead, and the proposed rule continues to gather dust on the desk of the Office of Management and Budget.
In order to reduce the threat of ship-related deaths, the leading cause of death for the species, scientists have determined that NMFS must set vessel speed limits at 10 knots within right whale habitat, when whales are present. NMFS has agreed with these determinations, and yet the Bush administration continues to hold up action to protect the whales.
"It is clear that the Bush administration has no intention of moving forward with a ship strike rule, a rule firmly rooted in science to keep imperiled whale populations from going extinct," said Vicki Cornish, vice president of marine wildlife conservation at Ocean Conservancy. "We have been waiting for well over a year for the Office of Management and Budget to act, but now it's time to work past the obstacles and follow the law to protect endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale. It is unacceptable that no rule is in place while the Bush administration stalls. The protections that were promised are overdue, and waiting is no longer an option."
Background
Hunted nearly to extinction by the early 20th century, the North Atlantic right whale has yet to recover to healthy populations despite the protections of the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The North Atlantic right whale is found in the waters off the whole East coast. Thus, the species' habitat is crisscrossed by busy shipping lanes, and these waters are traversed by thousands of ships that make hundreds of thousands of port calls in the United States annually. As a result, while several factors, including the species' feeding, resting and socializing behaviors appear to make right whales particularly vulnerable to ship strikes, the high density of shipping traffic in right whale habitat significantly increases the threat to the species.
Today, human activities cause at least 50 percent of all right whale mortalities. Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the leading human-related causes of right whale injuries and death.
In this suit, the groups are challenging NMFS's failure to protect and recover the North Atlantic right whale as required by the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Specifically, the groups challenge NMFS's failure to finalize the rulemaking it began in 2006 with the proposed rule — and which NMFS told a Federal District Court would be completed by June 2007 — to promulgate regulations to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the threat from ship strikes to ensure that the right whale is not driven further toward extinction. Moreover, the lawsuit challenges NMFS's denial of groups' petition for similar speed restrictions to be put in place on an interim basis while the final regulation was completed.
** Defenders of Wildlife, The Humane Society of the United States and Ocean Conservancy are represented in the case by Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, a public interest law firm in Washington, D.C.
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Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With more than 1 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit defenders.org.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization — backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty — On the web at humanesociety.org.
Ocean Conservancy is the world's foremost advocate for the oceans. Through science-based advocacy, research, and public education, we inform, inspire and empower people to speak and act for the oceans. Ocean Conservancy is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has offices in New England, Florida, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and California with support from more than half a million members and volunteers. For more information, visit oceanconservancy.org.
