NOAA Fisheries has pledged over US$9 million from Inflation Reduction Act funds to help safeguard North Atlantic right whales.
The whales are facing extinction as a result of entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes and climate change.
NOAA estimates that more than 85% of right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once and is therefore allocating around US$6.9 million to develop ‘ropeless’ fishing gear technology.
A further circa US$2.8 million will fund efforts to improve monitoring and modelling to give essential insights into health, distribution and abundance.
“North Atlantic right whales are approaching extinction with approximately 360 individuals remaining, including fewer than 70 reproductively active females,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries.
“It’s imperative we advance our collective actions to help recover this species, and these partnerships will help the science and conservation community do just that.”
Duke University’s Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research, the Flammang Lab at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will all receive funds as part of efforts under NOAA’s Road to Recovery plan.
These funds are part of an US$82 million investment in North Atlantic right whale recovery efforts that NOAA Fisheries first announced in September 2023.
