The Biden administration on Thursday withdrew a proposal to expand protections for endangered whale species. Rules required some ships along the East Coast to slow down.
North Atlantic right whales, a rare species that conservationists aim to protect, have been injured or killed as a result of collisions with ships along the East Coast. In August 2022, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed rules to reduce the risk of whale collisions by expanding existing slow zones and regulating more vessel types. But after intense public debate over the rules and with just days left in President Biden’s term, the agency has put the proposed change on hold.
The service received more than 90,000 public comments about the rule change, according to the agency’s filing, which was published in the Federal Register on Thursday.
“Despite its best efforts, NMFS does not have sufficient time to finalize this regulation at this administration due to the scope and volume of public comments,” the agency said in the filing.
The issue has been particularly controversial in Massachusetts, due to the state’s extensive coastline, which is home to a major fishing industry.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat who opposed the measures, celebrated the reversal.
“This decision is good news for residents and businesses on Cape Cod and the islands, and we look forward to continuing to work together to protect right whales and the local economy,” Ms. Healey said in a statement.
The rules also could have affected ferry service to destinations such as Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
Conservation groups have criticized the withdrawal as increasing the risk of right whale recovery in the North Atlantic.
“Failure to implement stronger measures to protect ships from collisions puts these animals at greater risk of extinction,” Jessica Redfern, a conservation scientist at the New England Aquarium in Boston, said in a statement. “To survive, right whales need immediate, decisive and effective solutions to protect individuals from preventable deaths.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service has reported 15 fatal and seven non-fatal vessel strikes since 2017, although not all whale deaths are easily documented. In October, the agency estimated that only about 370 right whales remained until 2023.
The current limits of seasonal slow zones and rules limiting the speed of some classes of ships will remain in effect. These areas include the waters off the coast of Cape Cod, the bays dotting the mid-Atlantic Ocean and most of the coast off South Carolina and Georgia.
President-elect Donald J. Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday, is unlikely to prioritize similar rules to save endangered species.
In recent weeks, he made inaccurate claims about what he saw as unnecessary protection of the delta smelt, an endangered fish, to derail efforts to contain wildfires in Los Angeles.
However, during the election campaign, Trump long attacked offshore wind farms for killing whales There is no scientific evidence supports his claim. He announced in early January that he intended to halt construction of new wind farms.