September 13, 2019 — Whale entanglements involving fishing gear along the West Coast have dropped by more than 50% so far this year compared to 2018.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as of Aug. 23, the National Marine Fisheries Service reported 17 confirmed whale entanglements in 2019, compared to 40 for the same period a year prior.
In both years, entanglements involved commercial Dungeness crab gear and drift gillnets.
“Year to date, it’s lower and is encouraging,” said Justin Viezbicke, NOAA’s West Coast Stranding coordinator. “We’ve seen spikes where we’ve seen seven or eight in a month and with three months left this year, things could still change.”