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Orca
Whale Watching Rules on the Horizon?
In
2005, the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) listed the Southern Resident killer
whales as endangered under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA). In November 2006, they
issued a Recovery Plan which runs over
250 pages. In the Executive Summary, they
divided the plan into nine sections; one
of those is titled “Vessel Effects.”
On March 15 of this year, NMFS issued
what is called an “Advance Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking” that relates to the interaction
between vessels and the Orca whales. Simply
put, the agency is thinking about creating
rules that vessel operators of all types
should follow when in the presence of
the whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca,
the Southern Strait of Georgia and Puget
Sound.
Last month, Tony Floor, our Director of
Fishing Affairs, and I attended a public
meeting that NMFS held as a part of their
public process. There were about 60 people
at the meeting we attended with a cross-section
of people from the Whale Watching Operators
to environmental groups and everything
in between.
The next step in the rulemaking process
is a public comment period. Anyone interested
in sharing their views with NMFS has until
June 20 to write the agency. The NMTA
is planning on submitting comments and
in order to develop our position, we have
set up two meetings for our members to
provide input.
You are invited to attend one of two meetings:
Monday, June 4 at 2:00 PM and Tuesday,
June 5 at 10:00 AM. We have provided two
date options so hopefully you’ll be able
to attend one of the meetings.
In case it is not obvious, I think this
is an important issue for boating in the
Northwest and we owe it to ourselves to
develop a position that is thoughtful,
consistent with our goals of growing recreational
boating and encourages boaters to do “our
part” in recovering the Orca whales. They
are a treasure for all of us to observe
and enjoy.
I would encourage all of you to visit
the Northwest Region NOAA website and
learn more about this issue. Below you
will find links to what I found to be
the key documents.
By way of background, the Endangered Species
Act is not something that just landed
on our desks recently. It was passed into
law over 30 years ago by Congress. Based
on my observations, the ESA can be politically
dividing. There are many who feel it needs
amending. These views often are diametrically
opposed with some wanting to tighten the
regulations with others asking for more
leeway. For the moment, I suggest that
our association sets those discussions
aside and we acknowledge that the ESA
is the law of the land. I think the Northwest
Region of NOAA is simply doing their job
in trying to implement a recovery plan.
I assume that boaters would be more interested
than any group to see the Orca come off
the endangered species list. Who would
not want to see another success story
in the Northwest equal to the recovery
of the Bald Eagle and their eventual “delisting”
from the ESA?
I hope you will be able to attend one
of the meetings we have scheduled to address
this important issue. If not, please feel
free to share your thoughts with me and
we will consider them as we develop our
comments and recommendations for NMFS.
The other option is for you to comment
directly to NMFS with your own positions.
Everyone is welcome to be a part of this
process, which at the end of the day is
what makes our country so great.
With
warm regards,
Michael
Campbell
President
michael@nmta.net
P.S.
If you are reading this online, then the
links below are hot. If you are reading
the paper version of the newsletter, then
you may want to go to www.nmta.net. Unfortunately,
the links below are long and can be difficult
to correctly type into your browser.
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