My new demand to protect marine mammals

Dear Neighbors,

I held a press conference this week to demand that the Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) enforce speeding restrictions on large vessels that break the law, injuring and killing marine mammals. In a letter to the Coast Guard Commandant and NOAA Administrator, I highlighted recent reporting that shows an egregious 84% of large vessels like cargo ships fail to comply with speed rules intended to protect marine mammals.

The Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act required NOAA to create a vessel speed rule, which mandates all vessels 65 feet and longer to travel at a speed of ten knots or less in certain times and places to protect the North Atlantic right whale from injury or death.

A recent analysis demonstrates that the vast majority of large vessels are speeding through the most sensitive and important areas for marine mammal protection in direct violation of the law. According to NOAA, vessel strikes and entanglements have caused more than 77 percent of deaths and injuries of the endangered North Atlantic right whale since 2017.

Scientists are hopeful that the North Atlantic right whale population can rebound, particularly if mothers and calves which reside silently at the surface of the water receive a chance to live and grow without being injured or killed by offending operators of large commercial ships and mega yachts. The right whale and other mammals are too important to our Atlantic ecosystem and our nation’s cultural heritage to let vessels speeding their demise go without consequence. Read more here

Click here to visit my website or call my offices directly if you have questions or need help with a federal agency:

Middlesex County: 732-249-8892

Monmouth County: 732-571-1140

Congressman Pallone