What would the Right Whale Coexistence Act do?
This Act would provide 10 years of funding for conservation efforts to find solutions to help fishers and shippers safely share the ocean with critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. This Act would provide $15 million dollars each year for 10 years.
What will the money be spent on?
The goal of the Right Whale Coexistence Act is to give experts the resources to solve the problem of human threats to North Atlantic right whales. Much of this focuses on the two largest threats – incidental entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes. Through this funding, research and testing can be done to find solutions which will allow fishermen to safely share important fishing grounds with right whales while ship captains and boaters keep whales, passengers and crew safe while transiting right whale habitats.
Why should you support the Right Whale Coexistence Act?
Right whales are facing extinction from avoidable threats and the solutions exist to solve them. The Right Whale Coexistence Act would provide the necessary funding to test and implement these solutions to make them work for mariners, fishermen and whales.
When right whales thrive, so do we. Whale poop provides nutrients to the plants of the ocean, called phytoplankton, which in turn provide oxygen for us to breathe. In fact, those phytoplankton play many important roles, including providing around 50% of the oxygen on our planet.
1. Send a quick email to your senators and ask them to co-sponsor the Right Whale Coexistence Act. It takes less than a minute and can make a huge difference in the future of this species.
2. Send your senator a postcard!
Postcards and hand written mail has the most impact in reaching your senators. Write to your senators and congressional representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the Right Whale Coexistence Act (S.3664) or thank them if they already have. If you are from New Jersey or Massachusetts, send a note of thanks to Sen. Booker or Rep. Moulton's office for introducing this important piece of legislation!
3. Spread the word!
Help us let everyone know about right whales and why they need to be saved. Tell your friends and family about how important whales are and urge them to advocate for change. Use your voice to speak up for right whales.
If you want to post on Facebook, copy and paste the statements below, remove the hashtags to make it more FB-friendly!
[shariff]
Also known in the Senate as S. 3664
Mirrors a bill in the House (H.R. 1568)
Sponsored by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Currently has 3 cosponsors
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