Endangered species

Paquette in: Right whales win back protections in lobster ruling

A long-drawn battle between lobster fishers and environmental campaigners in Boston has been brought to a close, following a court decision to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale from accidental fishing gear entanglements.

05/02/2025
Words by Rob Hutchins
Photography by NOAA Fisheries

A long-drawn battle between lobster fishers and environmental campaigners in Boston, Massachusetts has been brought to a close, following a court decision, last month, to reinstate regulations to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from accidental fishing gear entanglements – one of the two greatest threats the species currently faces.

Much to the delight of the area’s local conservation groups and North Atlantic right whales campaigners, the First Circuit Court of Appeals moved to re-uphold a 2024 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) rule to close 200 square miles of federal waters off the Massachusetts coast to lobster fishing each winter.

Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), Defenders of Wildlife, and Whale and Dolphin Conservation had been campaigning since May 2024 for the decision to be made. It rules that waters in the region will now be closed off to lobster fishing from February to April, the winter months in which right whales are present in high numbers.

The move aims to increase protections for right whales, a species which faces increasing pressures from entanglement and vessel strikes. It’s one that has arrived at a critical time for the North Atlantic right whale. Commercial fishermen were already in for a substantial win when – days before President Donald Trump took office – the federal government withdrew a proposal that would have required more ships to slow down in East Coast waters to protect whale populations.

Prior to this, in May last year, a district court decided to reject emergency rulings made to better safeguard North Atlantic right whales from accidental fishing gear entanglement by closing the waters off to lobster fishing in these critical months. Had the decision not been recently overturned, North Atlantic right whales would have been left at the mercy of both ship strikes and fishing entanglement – notoriously the two largest threats they currently face.

Areas surrounding the Massachusetts waters are already seasonally closed, thanks to rulings issued in 2015 and 2021 by NMFS. 

At the time, the 2021 rule had unintentionally left a wedge of marine space open for fishing, creating a ‘high-risk’ hot spot for entanglement as lobster gear piles up. That wedge was temporarily closed with a set of emergency rules imposed in 2022 and 2023, but this was a ruling met with strong opposition from the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association in 2024.

“The first Circuit’s decision represents a major victory for right whale conservation,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife, a law firm acting on behalf of the conservation groups behind the campaign. 

“The wedge closure affects only a handful of lobstermen for three months but protects right whales from the deadly fishing gear entanglements driving this species towards extinction.”

right whales have been offered greater protection from entanglement through a new ruling to close lobster fishing in the winter

Since the seasonal closures to lobster fishing on either side of this wedge were imposed, locals have witnessed the area become a “gear parking lot”, littered with lines that threatened to entangle and harm right whales.   

“We’re pleased the First Circuit recognised that the 2024 rule, annually closing risky waters to vertical lines in the spring, is consistent with congressional intent to fix an inadvertent gap in protection off the Massachusetts coast,” said Erica Fuller, senior counsel at Conservation Law Foundation.

With just 370 surviving animals, including only 70 reproductively active females, the right whale is currently at the edge of extinction. This in large part due to its two biggest threats: entanglements and vessel strikes.

CLF, Defenders of Wildlife, and Whale and Dolphin Conservation have federally appointed members on the Arctic Large Whale Reduction Team and had brought the gap in protections to NMFS’ attention in late 2021. It’s a win for the right whale just when it needs it.

Last month, NOAA Fisheries withdrew a proposed rule to expand protections of North Atlantic right whales from deadly vessel strikes by slowing ships down within their waters, citing ‘insufficient time’ in which to finalise the regulation under the then Biden administration. 

At the time, Conservation Law Foundation’s Fuller had called the decision a “gross inaction” and an “inexcusable” delay.

“Accidental entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes are listed as primary threats to North Atlantic right whales,” said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, executive director of Whale and Dolphin Conservation. “But their actual greatest threat is political inaction and that is what will drive them to extinction.”

The North Atlantic right whale population began its sharp decline around 2010, as whale shifted habitats in a rapidly changing climate, bringing them into areas where protections from vessel strikes and accidental entanglements were not in place.

“Just like school speed zones are always in place but are only in effect when school is in session, the 2022 emergency rule to seasonally protect right whales in the wedge of Massachusetts was also in place in December 2022,” continued Asmutis-Silvia. 

“That was the intent of Congress when it referenced the emergency rule in the Consolidated Appropriations Act language. We are grateful that the appellate court acknowledged it.”

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Words by Rob Hutchins
Photography by NOAA Fisheries

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