Science Daily — "Offshore oil and gas development in Bristol Bay would be the wrong step for the right whale," said Margaret Williams, director of WWF's Bering Sea program. "This is a risk we simply can't afford to take. It would jeopardize the nation's most important fishery, the hundreds of communities that rely on fishing and a treasure trove of wildlife."

On January 9, 2007, President Bush rescinded a long-standing presidential moratorium that prohibited drilling in Bristol Bay. In July the new Five Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) - a U.S. government agency - goes into effect and includes plans for a lease sale in Bristol Bay and other areas along the U.S. coastline. Bills to block leasing in Bristol Bay are pending in the House of Representatives and the Senate.