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Description:The North Atlantic right whale is critically endangered, with a population of fewer than 400
individuals. Federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA), protect the right whale and require the government to consider and avoid
harm to the species before taking actions that may affect them. Entanglement with fishing gear is
among the most common ways that right whales are harmed, so regulators cannot authorize fishing
without first considering how much of a risk entanglement poses and adopting measures to avoid
and minimize the frequency and severity of interactions between whales and fishing gear.
Disagreement about the effectiveness of these measures has recently resulted in challenges to the
legality of the American lobster, Jonah crab, gillnet, and other fisheries in waters off New England.
While both state and federal fishing regulators have been sued, this document only discusses
litigation challenging federal fisheries. These fisheries occur in waters between 3 and 200 nautical
miles from shore.
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