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Help Save North Atlantic Right Whales

North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered and their population is declining.

A major factor in their decline is that they are becoming fatally entangled in lines used in lobster and crab trap fishing. The National Marine Fisheries Service needs to establish regulations that will reduce the number of risk-prone lines used in lobster and crab traps to help protect these majestic animals.

Reducing the number of risk prone lines in the lobster and crab fishery can be done without harming the economy of communities that depend on fishing since it doesn't require using fewer traps — just fewer lines to buoys on the surface of the water. A federal task force composed of fishermen, state regulators, scientists and animal conservation groups agreed this past spring that the number of buoy lines used in the fishery should be reduced by 60-80% to reduce the risk of entanglement.

Tell the National Marine Fisheries Service to propose regulations that will reduce the number of risk-prone lines used in lobster and crab traps.
read petition letter ▾
Subject line: Adopt Regulations that Will Protect Endangered Right Whales

Dear Assistant Administrator Oliver,

Entanglements in commercial fishing gear are one of two major threats to right whale populations. As a result, more right whales are dying than are born each year.

Technology exists to catch lobsters and crabs using lines that do not fatally entangle whales without having a serious economic impact on the fishery.

We need regulations to limit the number of lines used in lobster and crab trap fishing in the Northeastern U.S., this will reduce the risk of death and injury to female right whales who are declining faster than males.

At a minimum, I urge you to adopt the recommendations of the Right Whale Take Reduction Team, and provide additional funding for right whale population surveys and gear research.

[Your Comment]

The 400 remaining North Atlantic right whales are at risk of extinction and we need to act now while there is still time.

Thank you,

[Your Name]
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