The primary goal of the critical habitat designations is to contribute to species protection by identifying key areas and describing the features within the areas that are essential to the species, thus alerting public and private entities of the importance of the areas. The critical habitat designation does not restrict human activities within an area or mandate any specific management or recovery action. In February 1997, NOAA's Fisheries Service implemented a regulation to minimize boat disturbance of right whales by restricting vessel approaches.
Exceptions exist for emergency situations and where certain authorizations are provided.
NOAA's Fisheries Service provides right whale conservation advice and recommendations to fleets of other agencies including the Army Corp of Engineers, the U.S Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the NOAA Corp fleet. These agencies and their ship pilots are well aware of the right whale crisis and have altered many of their operations to reduce the chance of hitting a right whale. These include time and area closures and modifications to fishing gear and practices. In U.S. waters, all ship's captains are required to carry these basic references on regional environmental conditions and navigation hazards. The Fisheries Service continues to provide information and to update the Coast Pilots on right whales and other protected marine species.