Proposed rules include slowing down ships in whale-heavy areas and reducing the amount of floating fishing line in the water. Gear and voluntary speed restrictions are already in place, but the new rules would significantly broaden requirements and improve their effectiveness, advocates say.
``We really do have tangible solutions in hand,'' Knowlton said.
Teri Frady, spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, said final rules to protect whales from fishing gear entanglements should be in force by the end of the year and the ship strike rules should be in place by spring of 2006.
``It's not that doing something dramatic isn't possible,'' Frady said. ``It's figuring out what it's going to be and whether it's going to work.''
The proposed rules have been questioned by fishermen, who worry new whale-safe gear requirements would be too expensive, and the shipping industry, which says it would lose money and compromise safety by slowing down or altering routes to avoid the animals.
The North Atlantic right whale was nearly hunted out of existence in the late 18th century and has struggled since. Scientists said the eight known whale deaths in the last 16 months were particularly devastating because four were females just starting to bear calves.
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