Yesterday, the United States Senate released its fiscal year 2021 Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill, increasing funding for monitoring and protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale by two million dollars.
The additional funds will also help develop and test new anti-entanglement fishing gear technologies. The funding levels are similar to those adopted in the House’s companion CJS bill. The House and Senate must now work to reach an agreement over the final appropriations bill levels and language.
“We are grateful that the U.S. Congress has united in trying to stop the North Atlantic right whale’s dire situation from deteriorating further. With what we know now, the right whale’s status is so critical that even more funding is needed to invest in developing technologies to save the species from fishing gear entanglements. However, this year’s additional funding alone will not save the right whale from the existential threats of entanglements and vessel strikes,” Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement. “We urge Congress to pass the SAVE Right Whales Act, to authorize $5 million a year for 10 years to invest in stakeholder efforts to develop innovative technologies to turn the tide for right whales.”
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