Long Branch – Today the Sierra Club, New Jersey Chapter joined Congressman Pallone and other environmental organizations including OCEANA, Environment NJ, and NJ League of Conservation Voters, at a press conference  calling on NOAA and the U.S Coast Guard for robust enforcement on the 2008 vessel speed rule to protect marine wildlife. OCEANA recently released this report on the harmful impact of vessel strikes on whales, and Congressman Pallone sent this letter calling on NOAA and the US Coast Guard to better enforce the rule.

Anjuli Ramos-Busot, New Jersey Director of the Sierra Club released the following statement: 

“The Sierra Club has a long history of fighting for our oceans and marine wildlife protection.  We stand in partnership with Congressman Pallone urging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA and the US Coast Guard to appropriately and robustly enforce the 2008 vessel speed rule to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW).

“It is no news that marine wildlife is severely threatened. We have an understanding of how the ocean’s ecosystems are drastically changing because of climate change. Water temperatures, currents, salinity, prey distribution are some of the changing variables that we have been able to observe and measure. All of these have a direct impact on our marine ecosystems and wildlife. These are complicated natural processes that can only be dealt with by curving the impacts of climate change, a difficult task that requires governments, industry and the public working together to stop the usage and our dependence on fossil fuels.

“However, climate change is not the only variable that impacts marine wildlife and our severely endangered species. There is plenty of evidence showing that vessel strikes are overwhelmingly harming and killing marine wildlife. We see marine mammals washing ashore along the East Coast and even the entire country, most of them with clear evidence of propeller marks and injuries and severe skull damage and internal bleeding, all indicative of vessel strikes. In addition to possibly losing these incredible species in eternity, it is most tragic that eliminating the leading culprit of these deaths is entirely preventable and solved by simply following the existing law and adapting to the current climate dynamic in our oceans. The NY and NJ Port is the second busiest and oftentimes the busiest port in the country, making the NY/NJ Bight a highly trafficked zone by large cargo vessels. More whales, more vessels and not following the law is a recipe for disaster.

“As Congressman Pallone explained, The Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act required NOAA to create the vessel speed rule in 2008 mandating all vessels 65 feet and longer to travel at a speed of ten knots or less in certain times and places to prevent the critically endangered NARW from being struck and injured or killed. We have 15 years of data that shows the rule in fact works when vessels comply, however due to the lack of compliance by these large vessel operators, vessel strikes remain a top killer.

“If we want to effectively protect marine mammals, especially those critically endangered, we must actually do the work to crack down and enforce the vessel speed rule. We urge NOAA and the US Coast Guard to reevaluate and adapt the existing monitoring, compliance, and enforcement methods to the changing circumstances, including the shifting migration patterns of NARWs into high-traffic areas due to climate change. The vessel speed rule must be enforced, strictly and properly, for it to be effective. We cannot allow public outcry to “save the whales” to become a slogan without any real claws. The New Jersey Sierra Club seconds Congressman Pallone’s call for further monitoring and enforcement of the rule by NOAA and the US Coast Guard.