NOAA Fisheries last week declined to designate migratory habitat for endangered North Atlantic right whales in the mid-Atlantic.
The decision not to expand protections for the endangered whales comes as fishing industry players continue to press the government to put off imposing broader protections for the whales that are vulnerable to being hit by ships. There are fewer than 400 whales left.
North Atlantic right whales have designated critical habitat for foraging in New England and calving habitat off the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina and the edge of North Carolina.
Save Long Beach Island, an anti-offshore wind citizens group, filed a petition in March 2025 asking for NOAA Fisheries to designate migratory habitat for the whales between those two areas.
