January 23, 2023 — In its latest five-year review, the National Marine Fisheries Service says existing efforts to protect North Atlantic right whales have proven inadequate and that the population continues to decline.
“The North Atlantic right whale faces continued threat of human caused mortality due to lethal interactions with commercial fisheries and vessel traffic,” concludes the review, released December 27, 2022. “There is also uncertainty regarding the effect of long-term sublethal entanglements, emerging environmental stressors including climate change, and the compounding effects of multiple continuous stressors that may be limiting North Atlantic right whale calving and recovery.”
Right whale protections have had a significant impact on the Maine lobster industry because of the danger that gear entanglement poses for the highly mobile mammals. While the review says that “mortalities and serious injuries of North Atlantic right whales in U.S. gear and first seen in U.S. waters” continue to contribute to the species’ decline and inability to recover, Maine lobstermen have argued that there have been no confirmed entanglements in Maine gear since 2004.