NEW HAMPSHIRE BULLETIN –
Once hunted to near-extinction, the greatest threats to the endangered North Atlantic right
whale now are accidental encounters with humans. Federal efforts to protect the whale species, which spends most of the year off the coast of New England, from collisions with ships and entanglements in fishing gear – incidents that represent the two leading causes of death for right whales, according to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration – remain stymied.
That’s because some policies meant to preserve the right whale are also seen as an existential
threat to another treasured icon of New England: commercial fishing.
Testifying at a hearing for a U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee last year, the head of
the department that includes NOAA, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, said she
understood the competing interests at play…