The world’s oceans are in dire straits. A startling UN report confirms what we at CLF have been saying for years: Without drastic measures to halt climate-damaging emissions and protect our oceans, life in New England, and around the world, will be forever changed. If we act now, we can still protect our oceans and way of life for future generations. But we don’t have a moment to waste.
“These troubling allegations suggest unlawful conduct at the highest levels of the agency and possibly among lawyers at the Department of Justice,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation. “The officials charged with protecting this species appear willing to misrepresent the facts and the science to both the court and the public, because they’re hell-bent on doing nothing that might save right whales from extinction.”
Off the rocky coastline of Maine is an expanse of brightly colored lobster buoys. The buoys – which mark where potentially millions of traps are dropped along the 3,000-mile coast – are an iconic image, bobbing along with the shifting tides. But lobsters aren’t the only living icon in Maine’s waters: The North Atlantic right… Continue reading The Road to Ropeless Fishing Gear
Ninety-five surviving females. Twenty-eight whales killed versus 12 calves born. It’s the right time – the only time – to save the right whale. We need to do the right thing. We need to do it now. And we need to do it together.
“Iconic species like the North Atlantic right whale are part of our heritage and deserve all possible protections in the face of the many threats to their continued existence,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston. “Any attempt to gut one of the public’s most revered statutes, especially in the face of the most recent UN report, demonstrates a lack of respect for both past and future generations.”
Humans pose the biggest threat to right whales’ survival, and it’s our responsibility to stop killing them. Last month, however, Maine’s state leadership rallied against a proposal that would help save our iconic whale. Fishing and right whales can co-exist, but it’s going to take close collaboration and forward-looking leadership, not obstruction. Maine must be part of the solution if we are to save the right whale from extinction.
This is outrageous. On Wednesday, the Maine Congressional Delegation put the fate of endangered North Atlantic right whales in the hands of President Trump – a president intent on exploiting our oceans and rolling back critical environmental protections. Earlier this week, three right whales were found entangled in fishing ropes. Another six were found dead last… Continue reading Urgent: Maine Representatives & Senators Fail Right Whales
“The Maine delegation’s letter indicates a disregard for the Endangered Species Act and the Take Reduction Team process, not to mention all of the Mainers who are extremely alarmed about the dire situation that is facing these whales,” says CLF attorney Emily Green.
“There is no more time for half measures or endless meetings and discussions,” said CLF Senior Attorney Erica Fuller. “Critically endangered right whales can recover, but we need to stop killing them now. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments must take additional action to protect this majestic species before it disappears from our oceans forever.”
“The loss of [six] more whales, and at least two breeding females, is catastrophic,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, which has sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to force it to take more aggressive action to protect right whales. “Both countries need to treat this like the emergency that it is.”
