May 2, 2018 — Over the next two months, federal officials will step up patrols in the northeast Atlantic as they look to do more to save an endangered species.
U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA Law Enforcement personnel will monitor for illegally placed fishing gear in the region through 30 June, according to a USCG news release. The air and sea patrols, which started on Tuesday, 1 May, are being done in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act to limit interactions with North Atlantic right whales migrating into the region.
Officials estimate only 450 such whales are alive, and just a quarter of those are females in breeding age. Last year, NOAA investigated 17 right whale deaths in U.S. and Canadian waters. Of those, officials determined fishing gear entanglements or boat collisions were responsible for seven fatalities.
Coast Guard officials will also patrol the water and inspect lobster and gillnet gear left unattended to further decrease the chances for interaction with the whales.
While the Coast Guard and NOAA ramp up activities, a group of 11 U.S. senators from the region want to make sure Canada is doing everything it can to prevent right whale deaths as well.
Read the full story at Seafood Source