There are approximately 509 North Atlantic right whales alive today, and two significant causes of mortality that continue to significantly affect the species' recovery: entanglements and ship strikes. Considerable effort has been made to solve these and other issues, but the current Rule affecting ship strikes by requiring 10kt speeds under certain conditions is due to end in December.

This is a request that you consider commenting directly to NOAA, the U.S. agency currently considering making permanent this ship strike Rule. Comments must be received no later than 6 August. Please spread this message by any means available.

The NOAA website at http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2013/20130605_rightwhale.html gives the background, and says:
"The existing rules, which reduce an ocean-going vessel’s speed to 10 knots or less during certain times and locations along the East Coast from Maine to Florida, have reduced the number of whales struck by ships since 2008, when the speed limits began. No right whale ship strike deaths have occurred in Seasonal Management Areas since the rule went into place. Modeling studies indicate the measures have reduced the probability of fatal ship strikes of right whales by 80 to 90 percent." The current rule will end stop in December, unless made permanent as proposed.

Your comment to NOAA is especially important to confront the opposition to making this rule permanent, which consists of commercial shipping and other marine users that assert their operations are impacted economically by the increased transit time. On the other hand, the best available science asserts that the loss of one reproductive female may precipitate the species' extinction, and several die from anthropogenic impacts every year.

You may submit public comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov or by visiting the comment page on the Office of Protected Resources website at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/comment.htm. NOAA’s Fisheries Service will also accept written comments mailed by August 6th to: Office of Protected Resources, NOAA Fisheries, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910; or faxed to 301-713-4060.

Direct link for your comment: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=NOAA-NMFS-2012-0058-0001
* Note that the proposed rule PDF itself may be downloaded from the comment page.

Thank you,

William W. Rossiter
President
Cetacean Society International
65 Redding Road-0953
Georgetown, CT 06829-0953
t/c: 203.770.8615, f: 860.561.0187
rossiter@csiwhalesalive.org
www.csiwhalesalive.org