As U.S. veers away from protecting environment, alarm sounds for East Coast marine life

U.S. President Donald Trump's rush to change course on the environment has marine wildlife experts nervous about water and wildlife off the East Coast.

Executive orders Trump has signed since taking office have already stripped away some protections for wildlife, with his determination to make drilling for oil easier and his apparent lack of concern about the impact of microplastics.

Kim Elmslie, campaign director for Oceana Canada, says scientists and others worry that further U.S. policy changes will hurt efforts to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale. 

"This is a species, like any wild animal, that doesn't recognize borders, so what happens in the U.S. can impact in Canada," Elmslie said. 

"Rolling back or changing measures in the U.S. could hasten this species decline and potential extinction." 

Elmslie said she will be keeping an eye on changes involving vessel speed limits and the use of fishing gear and will continue to work with the U.S. on protective measures.

Fewer than 380 right whales are left, and ship strikes and entanglements in fishing gear have been blamed for deaths in recent years.

CBC News tried to reach the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. agency that keeps an eye on climate change as well as oceans, to find out if it has been hit by policy changes under Trump. Hundreds of employees  were laid off late last week. 

Sean Brillant, senior conservation biologist for marine programs with the Canadian Wildlife Federation, said one of his  greatest concerns is a lack of communication from marine scientists and experts in the U.S. as fears of policy changes persist.

"We've seen situations where, all of the sudden, some collaborators on different projects need approval from higher levels of government before they are allowed to communicate with Canadian scientists," he said. 

Historically, there hasn't been as much interest in conservation or protection work in the U.S., said Brillant, and that's now likely to continue or get worse. 

A pastic pollution 'crisis'

Scientists are also sounding alarms over a Trump order that reverses efforts to eliminate plastic single-use straws within all federal buildings and parks.

"We're facing a global plastic pollution crisis that our leaders cannot afford to ignore, and the U.S. is moving in the wrong direction on this," said Krista Beardy, a microplastics researcher at the University of New Brunswick. 

Beardy said plastic straws are a small part of the problem with ocean waste, but they're a reminder of the bigger issue. 

"The environment — air, land and sea — are completely polluted with plastics," she said.

Single-use plastics, such as straws, coffee lids and to-go containers, break down into microplastics.

"These are turning up in the stomach of fish and birds and other animals, as well as now in human blood and tissue," said Beardy. 

She said estimates suggest 16 million tonnes of plastic enters marine habitats every year. 

"It's really quite alarming," said Beardy, adding that carbon emissions are created in the production of plastics.  

Trump has also decided to remove the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. Adopted by 196 countries, the agreement took effect in 2016 and is meant to get countries working together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach a world net zero goal by 2050.  

Beardy said meeting this goal is imperative for a stable climate and to protect air and water. It's also critical for public health and a thriving economy., she said.

For this reason, many multinational companies are cutting down on single-use plastics to be in line with their sustainability goals.

"So this also makes Trump's decision an absolute outlier in the business world itself," said Beardy. 

Beardy said governments on both sides of the border have invested in research meant to inform policy decisions, and, it has taken decades of outreach from researchers and conservationists for change to happen. 

She said any steps backward are frustrating, and ignoring research is a waste of taxpayer money and a waste of time. 

"We don't have that time to waste, global warming and climate change are moving forward and if we don't meet our emission reduction targets then there's going to be trouble," Beardy said.

Brillant said it's more important than ever that government and experts in Canada ensure current protections do not falter. 

"I think it's part of an emerging understanding that we've had an exceedingly frivolous relationship with plastics, especially throwaway plastics, I think that we see society acknowledging this."