Endangered Species Act takes account at its 50-year mark

The bald eagle has been this country’s national bird, a symbol of strength and freedom, since 1782. But two centuries after its designation, by the 1970s, the bald eagle was on the verge of extinction.

Today, the bald eagle population has rebounded and is perhaps the most-cited example of the success of the Endangered Species Act, which was signed into law 50 years ago by President Nixon.

“Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed,” Nixon said in a statement when he signed the act in December 1973. “This important measure grants the government both the authority to make early identification of endangered species and the means to act quickly.”

Now, scientists in New England are reflecting on that historic moment and its significance for endangered local animals.

“The Endangered Species Act has definitely been a force for good,” said Michael Moore, a senior scientist in biology at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth. But he added that commercial interests continue to put too many endangered animals and their habits at risk.

The act prohibits the killing or harming of endangered species, protects habitats, and requires the implementation of recovery plans. But it has its limitations. From its inception, the act pitted two pillars of American society against each other: the preservation of natural resources and capitalism.

Perhaps no local animal symbolizes the strength and shortcomings of the act, and the battle with commercial interests, more than the North Atlantic right whale.

In New England, the North Atlantic right whale has been listed as endangered since the first days of the Endangered Species Act. The whale — which can weigh up to 140,000 pounds and measure 52 feet in length — once had a population of around 21,000 but was hunted to the brink of extinction.

“Being on the list doesn’t necessarily mean you are exempt from extinction,” said Charles Innis, senior scientist and veterinarian at the New England Aquarium.

For the North Atlantic right whale, the population remains threatened by shipping activities, the fishing industry, and climate change.

The population appears to be holding steady, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that only about 360 North Atlantic right whales remain alive today.

More than 1,700 US species have been protected by the Endangered Species Act. Scientists at the Center for Biological Diversity estimate that 97 are now extinct or possibly extinct. On the positive ledger, 54, including the bald eagle, have been delisted due to recovery.

“Time is of the essence for right whales,” said Amy Knowlton, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium, who has researched right whales with the Aquarium’s Kraus Marine Mammal Conservation Program for 40 years. She says the whales still get caught in fishing nets and the results can be lethal.

The fishing industry argues that some protections go too far and put their industry at risk. On its website, the Maine lobster industry writes that it “recognizes the precarious situation of the North Atlantic right whale, and since the 1990s fishermen have been taking proactive steps to ensure the fishery and the whales can co-exist.”

“Regulations that will hurt the fishery but won’t save the whales aren’t the answer,” the Maine lobster industry writes. “We need to find a solution that works for everyone.”

While right whales are still struggling, other local species have flourished because of the act’s protections.

In Massachusetts, the population of red-bellied cooters, a turtle species local to Plymouth County, has grown significantly thanks to the act’s protections. The species was listed as endangered in the 1980s when there were only about 300 breeding individuals left. Today, Innis said, the species’ population “has grown from several hundreds into the thousands.”

In an effort to protect the turtles, scientists recovered hatchlings from nests and raised them in scientific institutions during the winter. There, the young turtles were able to grow so they could stand a better chance against their main predator, skunks, once they returned to the wild.

Then there’s the Atlantic gray seal, which lives in New England coastal waters and can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh almost 900 pounds. New England fishermen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries hunted them to protect their cod harvests, killing more than 100,000 seals and driving the species out of the region.

Hunting gray seals was made illegal in 1972 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which was passed by Congress a year before the Endangered Species Act with a similar mission. Thanks to protections, the gray seal population significantly rebounded with an estimated 50,000 now living in New England waters.

And so, 50 years on, the story of the Endangered Species Act in New England remains a mixed bag — a moment to celebrate, but also a time of reflection for how much much more work needs to be done.