“After a series of devastating deaths this summer, pushing paper will not protect right whales from extinction,” said Erica Fuller, CLF Senior Attorney. “We need to use the force of the law to put this species on the path to recovery. The judge absolutely made the correct call: right whales simply can’t wait any longer for the federal government to get around to doing their job.”
“Expanded fishing in a right whale hot spot flies in the face of the Endangered Species Act,” said Erica Fuller, a Senior Attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation — one of the groups that brought the case. “This ruling rightfully reverses a dangerous course and will give right whales the protection they need from fishing gear. We cannot afford to lose even one more of these critically endangered creatures.”
This is part three of a three-part series on the current state of Atlantic cod in New England. Part three explores how a warming ocean is making problems caused by poor management worse. Read part one about the challenge of inaccurate data here and part two on decades of bad management here. The climate crisis… Continue reading Give Atlantic Cod a Break: The Role of Climate Change
“This ruling rightfully reverses a dangerous course and will give right whales the protection they need from fishing gear,” Conservation Law Foundation attorney Erica Fuller said.
Officials at the National Marine Fisheries Service declined to comment on the ruling. The lead plaintiff in the case, the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation, praised the decision. “Expanded fishing in a right whale hot spot flies in the face of the Endangered Species Act,” said Erica Fuller, a senior attorney at the foundation.
“Expanded fishing in a right whale hot spot flies in the face of the Endangered Species Act,” said Erica Fuller, CLF Senior Attorney. “This ruling rightfully reverses a dangerous course and will give right whales the protection they need from fishing gear. We cannot afford to lose even one more of these critically endangered creatures.”
This summer, 10 right whales died, including Wolverine, the great-grandson of famous right whale matriarch Kleenex. Each whale death this year means families lost mothers, fathers, siblings, and grandchildren — a family tree that’s losing branches. Calving mothers like Kleenex are crucial to the right whales’ survival.
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.”
“This report is yet another reminder that dithering by world leaders in the face of the climate crisis is becoming more costly and deadly by the minute,” said Bradley Campbell, President of CLF. “Neither the stroke of a Sharpie nor well-intentioned rhetoric can avert or obscure the irreversible damage already done to our oceans and our security. Only a quantum leap in climate leadership can limit the scale of the catastrophe and avoid utter betrayal of future generations.”
