The Trump administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service will delay until summer 2027 a final rule for protections of the endangered Rice’s whale, under an agreement with environmental advocates.
Reuters reported NMFS and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a July 3 agreement in the U.S. District of Columbia. NRDC had represented the group Healthy Gulf in a 2020 lawsuit seeking NMFS to designate critical habitat in the Gulf of Mexico, where it is believed fewer than 100 Rice’s whales survive.
Once thought to be a subspecies of Bryde's whale, Rice’s was recognized by biologists and NMFS as a distinct species in 2021. Environmental groups have pressed for more protections for the whales from collisions with vessel traffic, in Gulf oil and gas production areas and near approaches to Gulf shipping ports.
The agreement gives NMFS more time to finish “this complex Final Rule,” Reuters quoted the agreement text. A 2023 rule proposal by the Biden administration would have expanded designated critical habitat in the central and western Gulf, potentially restricting oil exploration.
Other proposals to limit vessel speeds to 10 knots when Rice’s whales are present met heated opposition from Gulf port interests, recreational fishing advocates and state governors. In October 2023 NMFS withdrew one plan after critics insisted the risk to whales at the surface from boat traffic was not justified by potential economic impact on maritime industries.
