Gov. Maura Healey is calling on federal regulators to amend a new proposal that could drastically cut ferry service to the Vineyard and Nantucket.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has proposed new speed restrictions for boats across the East Coast, including the Vineyard and Nantucket sounds where the Steamship Authority runs its ferries to the Islands. The new rules are being considered to create more robust protections for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
The Steamship Authority and other ferry lines have objected to the rules, saying it would reduce the number of trips to the Vineyard and Nantucket while doing little to help the species.
In a letter to the head of NOAA late last month, Governor Healey said the state has found there to be a lack of evidence that the Vineyard and Nantucket sounds are migratory and feeding grounds for the endangered species, and there have been no documented vessel strikes in those waters.
“The inclusion of Nantucket and Vineyards sounds in this proposed action would not meaningfully increase protection for this endangered species but would have devastating impacts on residents and businesses on Cape Cod and the Islands,” Governor Healey wrote to NOAA administrator Richard Spinrad on Dec. 23.
The proposed rule would enact a 10-knot speed limit from November to May for all vessels 35 feet or longer, as well as put in new speed zones if whales are detected. A similar restriction was already in place for boats over 65-feet long, however Nantucket and Vineyard sounds were not included.
Steamship Authority officials have said that the restrictions would result in deep cuts in service to both the Vineyard and Nantucket. About one seventh of its roundtrips to the Vineyard would be scuttled, and Nantucket, which has a fast ferry, would see even more significant cuts.
The Hy-Line ferry, which runs a fast ferry to the Vineyard and Nantucket, would have its business model put in peril, vice president Murray Scudder previously told the Gazette.
Massachusetts has implemented its own seasonal speed restrictions for small vessels, and the state Division of Marine Fisheries requires fishermen to use weak buoy lines, making it easier for whales to break loose from fishing gear if they do get entangled. Governor Healey also pointed to the state’s plan to begin real-time acoustic monitoring to better keep track of right whales.
“We remain committed to these conservation efforts and are concerned that the proposed speed rule is not supported with adequate evidence of the protection of right whales,” the governor wrote in her letter, before asking for exemptions for the sounds.
Right whales have been teetering on the edge of extinction for years, and there are only about 350 whales left. A dead right whale, which was previously entangled in Maine fishing gear, washed up in Cow Bay last year.
NOAA had planned to enact the rule in 2024, but the proposal is still before the federal Office of Management and Budget, the last step in the rule-making process.
Conservationists have said that the rule could cut down on the number of times whales are hit by boats. Ship strikes are one of the biggest contributors to whale deaths.
