The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday announced it is withdrawing its proposed expansion of the vessel speed rule, which aimed to minimize the threat of boat strikes to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.
The proposed rule sought to require boats 35 feet or longer to slow to 10 knots (about 11.5 mph) when whales are expected to be present in the area. The existing regulation, which will remain in place, applies the speed limit to vessels 65 feet or longer. The proposal also would have expanded the areas and adjusted the dates for which the rule applies, but these changes would have been minor in Georgia.
Wildlife advocates were deflated by the news.
“Despite today’s announcement and the upcoming change in administration in Washington D.C., one thing that hasn’t changed is the threat of vessel strikes to right whales, which remain one of most critically endangered species on the planet, Catherine Ridley of One Hundred Miles wrote to The Current in an email.
About 370 North Atlantic right whales remain. Named the Georgia state marine mammal, the females migrate to the area off the coast of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida to give birth in the winter. Five calves have been documented so far this calving season, which continues into April.
Right whales have experienced an unusually high number of deaths and injuries since 2017. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the leading causes of human related deaths of these bus-sized animals, with vessels under 65 feet implicated in at least nine right whale collisions since 2005. Since the expanded rule was proposed in 2022, researchers have documented four right whale deaths by vessel strikes, two of them in Georgia last year. In Feb. 2021, a 54-foot sport-fishing boat struck a right whale nicknamed Infinity and her calf off Amelia Island. The calf died. Infinity was spotted later with propeller wounds, but hasn’t been subsequently spotted.
Oceana Campaign Director Gib Brogan lamented the recent deaths in an email to The Current.
“Bureaucracy at its finest: While we waited over two years for a decision on the vessel strike reduction rule, our East Coast has become a graveyard for North Atlantic right whales,” he wrote.
The National Marine Manufacturers Association, the largest trade association in North America for the recreational boating industry, opposed the rule expansion and welcomed its withdrawal.
“As we’ve said all along, NOAA’s proposed rule relied on incorrect assumptions and questionable data, and failed to distinguish between large, ocean-crossing vessels and small recreational boats, which could not be more different from each other,” NMMA President and CEO Frank Hugelmeyer said in a prepared statement. “Most concerning, the proposed rule completely ignored the advanced marine technologies available now that can best protect the North Atlantic right whale and prevent vessel strikes.”
One Hundred Miles’ Ridley rejected NMMA’s claim.
“Unfortunately, their assertions mislead the public as to the true status of current technologies and their capabilities,” she wrote. “There are no technologies available that have been studied and shown to be anywhere as effective as 10-knot vessel speed restrictions, which have been scientifically proven to reduce the risk of mortality from a collision by 80-90%.”
“NOAA’s proposed rule was grounded in science, not spin—future proposals must be the same, in order to have a credible chance of saving the North Atlantic right whale.”
Coastal Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons) opposed the expanded rule as economically harmful and echoed NMMA in calling instead for the expanded use of technology to protect whales. In June 2023, Carter introduced a bipartisan bill that would have delayed funding for this proposed speed restriction until the Department of Commerce could fully implement new monitoring systems for North Atlantic right whales.
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“I am thrilled that NOAA made the right decision to protect harbor pilots, small business owners, and our coastal economy,” Carter said in a press release issued Tuesday. “This proposed rule was burdensome, overreaching, and would have caused irreparable harm to the Atlantic Coast without providing any environmental benefits. Tracking technologies exist that would help prevent right whale vessel strikes, and I hope to see those more broadly used in the coming years,” Carter said.
Carter did not respond to The Current’s request for comment.
Political action committees associated with NMMA contributed $3,500 to Carter in 2024 and $1,000 in 2022, Open Secrets reported. NMMA spent $910,000 on lobbying last year, according to Open Secrets.
Griff Lynch, President and CEO of Georgia Ports Authority, agrees with Carter.
“There are other potential technology solutions that need to be studied further for the safety of the North Atlantic right whales and safety at sea of mariners,” Lynch is quoted as saying in Carter’s press release. “This situation affects the entire U.S. East Coast. The Georgia Ports Authority appreciates the need for reasonable regulation to protect the North Atlantic right whale. However, any new measure must appropriately balance conservation goals with the safe and efficient movement of cargo into and out of our nation’s ports.”
NOAA indicated the scope and volume of 90,000 public comments it received since the regulation was proposed in August 2022 prevented it from finalizing the regulation during the Biden Administration.
“While we’re disappointed that this safe and effective rule wasn’t implemented, we’re heartened by the thousands of Georgians who followed the science and raised their voices in support,” Ridley wrote. “We should all continue to stay engaged by educating our friends and neighbors, following the policy decisions of our elected leaders, and speaking out when dangerous proposals threaten our wildlife. Coastal Georgians are privileged to share our coastal waters with these majestic animals, and it is incumbent on us to do everything in our power to protect them.”
“We need to better enforce speed restrictions for vessels covered by NOAA’s existing rule, and everyone — regardless of the size of their boat — can still do their part by slowing down in the calving and nursing grounds off our coast from November to April.”
Brogan called on the new administration to protect right whales.
“It’s our sincere hope that the new administration does not want the first large whale to go extinct in centuries in U.S. waters because of federal red tape,” he wrote. “The Trump administration must find a solution that keeps fisheries on the water, sustains the marine economy, and supports the recovery of the North Atlantic right whale.”
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