Jared Huffman: “This amendment would prohibit NOAA from utilizing a science-based stakeholder decision support tool to save the North…”

“This amendment would prohibit NOAA from utilizing a science-based stakeholder decision support tool to save the North Atlantic right whale from imminent extinction. The decision support tool was developed based on the best-available scientific information and models about the population dynamics of the whales. Defunding it undermines the consensus-based conservation decisionmaking process under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and would set a dangerous precedent for implementation of that law. It would also have lasting impacts for other species, fisheries, and industries. Again, this whale, the North Atlantic right whale, is critically endangered. There are less than 420 left. That is fewer than we have Members of this House of Representatives. With this amendment, while it may be well-intended to protect Maine lobstermen, it could have broadly undermining effects on right whale conservation and on NOAA's responsibilities under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. I fully understand my colleague's concerns and efforts to support constituencies. I, too, represent a coastal district with commercial fishermen; so does our colleague, Seth Moulton in Massachusetts. And we are committed to working together to find a solution to the crisis facing the North Atlantic right whale, including holding a hearing on Mr. Moulton's bill, the bipartisan SAVE Right Whales Act, in the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee that I chair.…”