Pallone Applauds Allocations for $82 Million in Federal Funding for Whale Monitoring and Surveillance

Washington, DC – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today applauded National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) allocations of the $82 million from the Inflation Reduction Act and Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations to support the conservation of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. The funding announcement came after Pallone led the call in April for more action to protect marine mammals and their habitats.

The funding allocations include:

• Monitoring and Modeling: $35.8 million for monitoring and modeling efforts, including $17.2 million for passive acoustic monitoring along the U.S. East Coast. $3.5 million will go toward a satellite tagging monitoring program, $5.6 million for high resolution satellite artificial intelligence, and $5.2 million for modeling advancements.
• Vessel Strike Risk Reduction: $20.1 million will be invested in vessel strike risk reduction efforts, including $16.7 million for whale detection and avoidance technology development.
• On-Demand Fishing Gear: $17.9 million to support furthering on-demand fishing gear technology.
• Enforcement Efforts: $5 million will be invested to further support enforcement efforts, including new equipment, such as Doppler units, radar plotting aids, and marine monitor shore-based units, in addition to contracts for operations.

“Today’s announcement is important news for our efforts to protect marine mammals. With this funding, NOAA is getting closer to deploying new technology to track whales with greater accuracy so that we can reduce vessel strikes and entanglements, which we know are the leading causes of whale deaths and injuries,” said Pallone. “I’m going to continue to advocate for real solutions that keep marine mammals safe from vessel strikes, entanglements, and marine pollution.”

Climate change is the biggest threat to marine mammals. A rise in ocean temperature is leading marine mammals’ prey farther north and closer to shore, forcing whales to move to areas of significant shipping activity. Since 2008, large vessels have been required to travel at speeds to protect whales, but compliance remains problematic. According to NOAA, vessel strikes and entanglements have caused more than 77 percent of deaths and injuries of the endangered North Atlantic right whale since 2017.

In April, Pallone sent a letter with Democratic Members of New Jersey’s Congressional Delegation to the Biden Administration to demand real solutions in response to the death of marine mammals off New Jersey’s coast. The Members asked the Administration to do more to address vessel strikes and emphasized that climate change poses a significant threat to marine mammals. They requested information from NOAA on what the agency is doing to enforce vessel speed, limit entanglements, and reduce microplastic pollution that marine mammals swallow when feeding.