An unlikely alliance between a House Democrat and the Trump administration could imperil the critically endangered right whale for almost a decade.
The Associated Press reported on the White House's Statement of Administration Policy that backs efforts from Maine U.S. Rep. Jared Golden to delay new protections for the whale until 2035.
With an estimated 380 North Atlantic right whales remaining, conservation advocates say the protections are critical to protecting whales that are struck by ships or get entangled in fishing gear.
Golden applauded Trump's support in a news release, arguing that the measures were overly cumbersome.
"Before we enacted this moratorium, Maine's lobster industry was on the verge of shutting down because of proposed regulations that were onerous and based on flawed science and hypothetical scenarios rather than the reality on the water," Golden declared.
However, a lack of protections threatens to undo recent recovery efforts for the whales, including 23 calves in the latest birthing season, per researchers.
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Right whales are under intense pressure from human activity. The massive whales migrate from calving grounds off Florida and Georgia to feeding grounds near New England and Canada, where they face serious risks from ship strikes and entrapment in fishing gear.
Golden claimed the delay will protect an industry worth a half-billion dollars annually, and allow lawmakers to "get the science right," per the AP.
The Trump administration framed current protections as sufficient and touted the delay as in line with an executive order to restore seafood industry competitiveness.
As the AP noted, advocates like California's In Defense of Animals group counter that the right whale's recovery remains modest, and in the 2010s the species' population declined by a quarter.
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Commenters on the AP story sided with that point of view.
"Regardless of the fishing industry's claims about the science, the fact that ship strikes remain a leading cause of fatalities tells us that the industry is not doing enough to prevent deaths and injury to whales," one declared.
"Whales, a healthy environment, peace, don't make sense on a balance sheet and they shouldn't," another argued.
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