
Vanishing North Atlantic right whale to remain protected under Endangered Species Act
Fox News
The vanishing North Atlantic right whale will remain protected under the Endangered Species Act. The species will require a series of protective steps to ensure they don't go extinct.
Protection of the whale is a source of dispute between conservationists and commercial fishermen because one of the top threats to the animals is entanglement in fishing gear. NOAA performed a required five-year review of the whale's status that said the animal is continuing to decline because of the threats of fishing gear, collisions with ships and other stressors.
"There is also uncertainty regarding the effect of long-term sublethal entanglements, emerging environmental stressors including climate change, and the compounding effects of multiple continuous stressors that may be limiting North Atlantic right whale calving and recovery," the agency said in its report.