“The Maine delegation’s letter indicates a disregard for the Endangered Species Act and the Take Reduction Team process, not to mention all of the Mainers who are extremely alarmed about the dire situation that is facing these whales,” says CLF attorney Emily Green.
“The loss of [six] more whales, and at least two breeding females, is catastrophic,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, which has sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to force it to take more aggressive action to protect right whales. “Both countries need to treat this like the emergency that it is.”
New England’s storied cod population is on brink of collapse. Our regional and federal fishery managers are tasked with maintaining a healthy Atlantic cod population. Yet they have a long record of making management decisions that do more harm than good.
“The ‘Canada isn’t doing enough’ mantra is outdated and deflects attention from the need for the US to do more,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation.
“There are so few right whales left that every death brings this species closer to extinction,” said CLF Senior Attorney Erica Fuller. “The time for talk is over. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments need to protect this majestic species before it disappears from our oceans forever.”
“Reducing and weakening the lines in the water is a start, but we need to go much further, much faster,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, which has sued NOAA in an effort to force the agency to take more aggressive action to protect right whales.
“As we speak, there are two whales entangled in fishing gear 100 miles from this meeting,” said Erica Fuller, Senior Staff Attorney at CLF. “New England’s iconic whale can be saved if we’d simply stop allowing them to be killed year after year. Reducing and weakening the lines in the water is a start, but we need to go much further, much faster. Appropriate closures and ropeless fishing need to be part of the solution.”
“We need to get lines out of the water if we are going to protect the North Atlantic right whale,” says Emily Green, a lawyer at the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), one of several groups suing the federal government for better protections of the whales, protections that they say are mandated by the Endangered Species Act.
Centuries of intense fishing and decades of poor management have driven New England’s Atlantic cod population to the brink. And, while our region’s most iconic fish could still recover, ensuring future generations will be able to enjoy fresh, local cod starts with improving our understanding of how many cod are actually being caught.
New England’s iconic fishery is in crisis.
