June 10, 2022 – 8:06 PM
The new rules could expand existing protections for whales that are currently protected by a network of “slow zones.”
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PORTLAND, Maine.- Federal authorities in USA the last few years have been spent analyzing rules for the shipping industry and are now about to release new guidelines to protect an endangered species of whale.
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The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been reviewing the speed regulations it uses to protect the so-called glacial right whale, and according to spokeswoman Allison Ferreira, the agency will release proposed rules in the coming weeks. Following publication, a public comment period will begin.
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Environmentalists have long pushed for stricter rules to protect these Whales, of which fewer than 340 exist and are vulnerable to collisions with large ships. Its population has fallen in recent years due to high mortality and poor reproduction.
“Those are the two main threats to the species: collisions with ships and getting caught in nets,” said Kristen Monsell, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.
The new rules could expand existing protections for whales that are currently protected by a network of “slow zones” that require ships to travel slowly to avoid collisions with cetaceans.
Some of those zones are mandatory, while others are voluntary. Environmentalists have called for all of them to be made mandatory and for more zones to be created. Some have called for NOOA to apply the same rules to boats smaller than 65 feet (19.8 meters) in length, the current limit.
More than 50 of the whales were struck by ships between the spring of 1999 and spring 2018, according to NOOA documents. Collisions aren’t always fatal, but wildlife advocates have warned that non-fatal collisions can cause whales to fail to reproduce.
Right whales were once abundant off the east coast of the United States, but were decimated in the era of commercial fishing.
– FUENTE: With AP information–
