right whales in danger: Despite their dire circumstances, North Atlantic right whales can be saved.

THE PROBLEM

North Atlantic right whales teeter on the brink of extinction. Hunters gave the iconic whale its name because it was the "right" whale to kill--docile, slow moving, and feeding close to the water's surface. From a precolonial population believed to comprise more than 20,000, the whales were hunted nearly to extinction by the early 1900s. When Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973, right whales were one of the first species added to the "endangered" list.

Now, North Atlantic right whales face another crisis of human making: accidental collisions with ships and entanglements in fishing gear. Today, the species is one of the most endangered in the world, with fewer than 360 whales remaining. Devastating double-digit losses of right whales since 2017--coupled with a low number of calves born--have prompted a renewed urgency to save the iconic whale.

The federal government is required by law to protect right whales. But the actions taken by regulators over the last few decades have not gone far enough. And in more recent years, federal agencies have failed to respond with the sweeping, large-scale measures that these whales so desperately need.

CLF IN ACTION

Despite their dire circumstances, North Atlantic right whales can be saved. Solutions to today's crisis already exist: stricter ship speed limits, increased monitoring and reporting, and closures of commercial fishing grounds when right whales gather to feed and mate. Ropeless fishing gear is on the horizon, though challenges remain in making it affordable and having it adopted widely.

But with federal regulators dragging their feet instead of taking immediate steps to stem right whale deaths, CLF is pushing to enforce the law and compel urgent action before it's too late.

Over the last three years, CLF and our partners have successfully sued the federal government to comply with the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. As a result of one of these lawsuits, in late 2019, a federal judge ordered that gillnet fishing gear must be removed from 3,000 nautical miles south of Nantucket where right whales increasingly congregate year-round. The area cannot be reopened until the federal government analyzes whether doing so will harm whales.

In a second case, last August, a federal judge gave federal fishery managers until May 31, 2021, to issue a new analysis of the American lobster fishery that takes into account the full scope of its harm to right...