Trump Mulls Ending Boat Speed Limits Protecting Right Whales

Speed restrictions on large boats that could strike and kill endangered North Atlantic right whales could be lifted under a Trump administration plan announced Tuesday aiming to reduce regulatory burdens on the fishing industry.

The National Marine Fisheries Service intends to amend the North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strike Reduction Rule, possibly scrapping speed restrictions in favor of technological solutions that would help ships avoid collisions with whales, according to a Federal Register public inspection notice.

The plan is part of the Trump administration’s broad deregulatory agenda that promotes industrial uses of land and waters over existing endangered species protections, conservation interests, and concerns about air and water quality.

The North Atlantic right whale was first listed as an endangered species in 1970, and about 380 exist today along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Maine. The George W. Bush administration sought to protect the few remaining right whales from vessel collisions and fishing gear entanglement in 2008 when it set a seasonal mandatory speed restriction of 10 knots for vessels 65 feet or longer in special whale management areas and additional slow-zones.

Those restrictions amount to “unnecessary regulatory and economic burdens,” the NMFS said in the notice. The service didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The Biden administration in 2022 proposed to further restrict vessels in areas frequented by right whales, but withdrew the proposal in the final days of the administration because it said the 90,000 public comments it received were too voluminous for NMFS to process before the Trump administration took office.

Now, the Trump administration may scrap the speed limits altogether.

The NMFS is seeking public feedback on whether the speed restrictions actually reduce whale collisions, how they affect shipping, fishing, and tourism, and how technology can be used to avoid conflicts with whales.

NMFS said in the notice that it supports development of technological and engineering approaches to whale avoidance. The agency released a report in November assessing the readiness level of 11 different whale-avoidance technologies, including acoustic monitoring, aerial surveys, infrared imaging, and others.

Industry at Risk

Numerous energy, fishing, and recreation groups spoke out against Biden’s plan to tighten the speed limits.

The National Ocean Industries Association, which supports offshore oil, gas, and wind development, opposed Biden’s rule because it would impede offshore wind farm construction.

“A series of vessel strike avoidance measures are already required during each stage of offshore wind activity,” association president Erik Milito said in his 2022 comments, adding that whale-avoidance technology is widespread in the industry.

The National Marine Lenders Association warned that expanded speed restrictions would “essentially shut down” the Atlantic coast’s $170 billion outdoor recreation economy, its president at the time, John R. Haymond, said in his 2022 comments.

But speed restrictions are essential for the whales’ survival, the Conservation Law Foundation and three other environmental groups said in their comments.

The “agency admits that expansion of the ship speed rule is ‘essential to stabilize the ongoing right whale population decline and prevent the species’ extinction,” the groups wrote.

Groups opposed to offshore wind have sued to stop project development over concerns about wind farms’ impact on North Atlantic right whales.

The Trump administration’s move drew quick pushback from environmental groups on Tuesday.

“This administration is hellbent on weakening a regulation with a proven track record of saving right whales and other large whales under the guise of economic security, when the agency’s own expert analysis has already demonstrated that this rule has minimal economic impacts,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife.