The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted a petition to the secretary of commerce June 18 seeking emergency action to protect North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in fishing gear. Pew supports closing certain areas in waters off New England to fishing gear with vertical ropes—lobster and crab pots—during times when right whales are likely to be present. Endangered right whales are dying in much higher numbers than their population can sustain. Closing some areas to fishing with the most harmful gear could immediately lower the risk to the whales while the federal government develops longer-term rules to reduce whale entanglements in fishing gear.