October 18, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Today, NOAA Fisheries announced the availability of the latest comprehensive report on Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species FY 2017-2018. The Endangered Species Act provides a critical safety net. We are beginning to see the success of our efforts, with a number of species recently found to be recovered, but more work needs to be done.
All of our species listed under the ESA are valuable and vulnerable. We are seeing results from the Species in the Spotlight initiative, which was initiated by the agency in 2015.
In this year’s report, we added the North Atlantic Right Whale to the Species in the Spotlight. The species is extremely endangered and fisheries gear entanglements and vessel strikes are among the leading causes of mortalities in both the U.S. and Canada. We are recognizing our Species in the Spotlight Partners for their incredible conservation efforts.
Find out the 10 Things You Should Know About North Atlantic Right Whales.