Summary: The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is urging the National Marine Fisheries Service to modernize outdated North Atlantic Right Whale vessel speed rules by incorporating new technologies and collaborative partnerships instead of restrictive mandates.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (SAF) has responded to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) request for comments on the agency’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking to possibly deregulate and modernize the North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Speed Rule. SAF urged NMFS to modernize its vessel speed regulations to incorporate developed and emerging marine technologies, incentives, and unique partnerships to conserve North Atlantic right whales and reduce regulatory burdens.
The Need to Replace Outdated 2008 Mandates
The rule, which was promulgated in 2008 to conserve endangered right whales, is severely outdated, ineffective, and overly burdensome to recreational boaters and anglers. In 2022, NMFS proposed rule that would have required all vessels 35 to 65 feet in length to abide by a 10 knot (about 11 miles per hour) speed restriction along most of the Atlantic coast for over half the year. That restriction would have resulted in dire consequences to various industries and recreation sectors. SAF opposed that proposed rule, and due to significant opposition, NMFS rescinded it in early 2025.
Leveraging Technology for Conservation and Access
Now, NMFS appears to be responding to stakeholder feedback on ways to reduce regulatory burdens put in place by the 2008 rule and still conserving right whales along the East Coast. New data and technologies have advanced our understanding of right whale ecology and vessel-strike risk far beyond what was utilized in the 2008. NMFS can now replace current seasonal speed restrictions with alternative management areas and advanced, technology-based, strike-avoidance measures that maintain or enhance conservation efficacy for the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Modern technological advances, as NMFS has previously recognized, offer incredible opportunities to conserve right whales while reducing regulatory burdens on the recreational fishing and boating sectors. New rulemaking should be aimed at developing, testing, deploying, and incentivizing the use of these technologies.
Why Stakeholder Collaboration Matters
Even more, the recreational boating and fishing communities can be a valuable resource for NMFS. NMFS should collaborate with boaters, anglers, conservation organizations, fishing and marine manufacturers, and a host of other interested stakeholders to develop, test, deploy, and incentivize the use of modern technologies that aid in the detection of right whales and reduce the risk of vessel strikes. Certainly, recreational anglers and boaters recognize the importance of species conservation, and we stand ready to help NMFS develop solutions that bolster right whale populations while reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens.
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