As the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument turns three, we’re celebrating the critical role it plays in safeguarding the health of New England’s ocean for generations to come – and highlighting the need for more places like it in our ocean.
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
New England’s congressional delegation is currently home for the late summer recess. Away from the DC hustle and bustle, it is safe to say that many of our Senators and Representatives are enjoying New England’s ocean and remembering that it’s part of our New England way of life. It’s the perfect time to reinforce the fact that the ocean is essential to the health of our planet – and ask that they take concrete steps to protect it.
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.”
CLF succeeds because we have people like you by our side. In this special annual report issue of Conservation Matters, we are honoring just a few of our many local heroes, people who have devoted their time, energy, and passion to defending our homes, protecting our children’s health, and supporting the vibrancy of our communities.
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.
“If passed, this bill would be a giant step backward for fisheries and fishing communities,” said Dr. Priscilla Brooks, Director of Ocean Conservation at CLF. “We need fishery management practices based on science and accountability that benefit our fisheries, fishing communities, and marine ecosystem. Here in New England, we don’t have to look any farther than the dire state of Atlantic cod for proof that now is the time to bolster our federal fishery law, not roll it back.”
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
As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. President Trump revoked the National Ocean Policy last summer, but here in New England, ocean planning – the idea that we can be smarter and more coordinated about how we collectively use and manage our ocean – lives on.
