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Panel debates NMFS vessel speed rules, right whale protections and agency authority
Summary
Witnesses and members debated the scientific basis and legal authority for National Marine Fisheries Service vessel speed limits aimed at protecting North Atlantic right whales, and described why an expanded 2022 proposal was withdrawn.
A House Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing on March 3 considered how the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has used the Marine Mammal Protection Act to limit vessel speeds to reduce ship strikes on North Atlantic right whales.
Legal and industry witnesses described the 2008 NMFS rule that limits most vessels 65 feet or longer to 10 knots in some Atlantic areas, and the 2022 NMFS proposal to expand the rule to vessels 35 to 65 feet and a larger geographic area. "The proposed rule…
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