Members of Congress, during a Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries hearing earlier this month, questioned NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad on the agency’s proposed expansion of the 2008 North Atlantic Right Whale Vessel Strike Reduction rule. The legislators focused on the rule’s negative economic impact and safety concerns, as well as the lack of stakeholder engagement in developing it.
Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.) questioned Spinrad about his claim that stakeholders were engaged in drafting the proposed rule and that all comments submitted were considered, stating that NOAA submitted the rule to the Office of Budget and Management on the same day it held a workshop on technologies that could help prevent whale/vessel strikes.
“We have been asking for a while for NOAA to engage some of the stakeholders with different technologies. … It appeared we were moving in the right direction when NOAA held a workshop with some folks that had technologies that, for example, were being used in Canada to avoid strikes,” Graves said in a statement. “I couldn’t help but feel that it was really disingenuous since as the same day the workshop was being held, NOAA submitted the rule to [the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs] for review. How could you consider anything that was presented at the workshop if turning the rule to OIRA in the same day?”
Added Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.): “I remain concerned that NOAA didn’t fully consider the effect the increased restrictions will have on recreational fishing, as well as the downstream industries that rely on it. These industries are very significant for my home state of Florida. NOAA has previously acknowledged that the rule will impact far more anglers than are impacted by the current rule.”
Subcommittee chairman Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.) appeared skeptical of the rule when he asked Spinrad to explain the probability of a smaller vessel striking a North Atlantic right whale.
“The probability of a vessel, you know, the 35-foot to 65-foot size, striking a right whale is less than one in a million, agree or disagree?”
Spinrad did not agree with that number but was unable to give the probability with sound data, according to the release.
