March 7, 2018 — ROCKPORT, Maine — Last summer, at least 17 endangered North Atlantic right whales died during their northwards migration from their spawning grounds off the coast of Florida and Georgia. Of those, 12 were found dead in Canadian waters, while five were found off the coast of the United States.
Besides the whales that died last year, several more were found entangled in fishing gear, and at least one more whale died in January of this year.
Now scientists and fisheries regulators are working to find ways to reduce the risk of entanglement. They may implement changes in fishing rules that have an enormous impact on Maine’s lobster industry.
The NOAA Fisheries Large Whale Take Reduction Team recently established separate working groups to study two proposals to reduce the risk of entanglement: splicing several 1,700-pound breaking strength “weak link” sleeves into vertical lines such as those that connect lobster buoys to traps; and removing those ropes altogether by requiring the use “ropeless” fishing gear.
Those working groups will focus on whether either solution is technologically feasible, whether it will actually work for fishermen, and whether it can be cost effective for fishermen.
According to scientists from NOAA Fisheries and the New England Aquarium in Boston, the evidence suggests that the already tiny right whale population is declining.
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