Saving Seafood

Only 366 Endangered Right Whales Are Alive: New NOAA Report

October 29, 2020 — The population of extremely endangered North Atlantic right whales has fallen even further in the last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Monday.

The agency said that there were only 366 of the whales as of January 2019, down from 412 in January of 2018, The Associated Press reported. But their numbers are likely even lower than that. NOAA Fisheries has documented the deaths or likely fatal injuries of a further 15 whales since, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) pointed out.

“These population estimates are devastating,” CLF senior attorney Erica Fuller said in response to the news. “The outlook is grim if we do not act today. We know human activities are decimating this population, what will it take for federal fishery managers to finally take action to protect these magnificent animals?”

Read the full story at EcoWatch

Maine Lobstermen Skeptical Of Proposal To Tie ‘Whale-Safe’ Seafood Label To Use Of New Fishing Gear

December 17, 2019 — A movement is emerging among conservation groups to create a “whale-safe” seal of approval for lobster caught with new types of gear designed to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. But it could be a tough sell in Maine, where some say the iconic fishery is already sustainable.

A specific “whale-friendly” or even “whale-safe” brand would likely apply to lobster harvested from traps with weak, breakaway rope or remote-controlled “ropeless” gear systems.

Scientists and conservationists say such gear changes, while still in the developmental stage, could reduce or even eliminate the risk that whales will be injured or killed by entanglements.

“That’s really important, that fishermen willing to test this gear, and certainly those fishermen fishing with ropeless gear should be rewarded,” says Erica Fuller, a lawyer at the Conservation Law Foundation, one of several organizations suing the federal government for stronger protections of the roughly 400 North Atlantic right whales remaining on the planet.

Read the full story at Maine Public

River Herring May Be Added to Endangered Species List

June 14, 2019 — A decision to add two species of river herring to the federal endangered species list is due from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) later this month, and it could have significant implications for southeastern New England.

Alewives and blueback herring, collectively called river herring, were once abundant in rivers and nearshore waters from Canada to South Carolina, but dams, climate change, and overfishing have contributed to their decline by as much as 98 percent.

“Historically, they used all the big and small rivers on the entire Atlantic Seaboard,” said Erica Fuller, senior attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, who has been advocating for increased management of the species for years. “They were the fish that fed the settlers; they were everywhere. There’s even a story of General Washington feeding the troops with alewives.”

But, she added, the species have been at historic lows for decades.

Read the full story at EcoRI

New England regulators scale back Atlantic herring catch

September 26, 2018 — Regulators on Tuesday tightened restrictions on the fishing of Atlantic herring but didn’t go as far as some groups wanted to help rebuild declining stocks of the small, oily fish that’s not only important to New England fishermen but is also a critical link in the marine food chain.

The New England Fishery Management Council unanimously approved a new management approach that will dramatically cut the catch limits for herring over the next three years, but the regulatory board stopped short of temporarily shutting down the fishery, as one option on the table would have required.

The new rules adopted by the council, which put in place a formula for setting annual catch limits, were applauded by some environmental advocates as recognition of the fish’s key role in the larger ocean ecosystem.

“The population is stressed, and we really need to start building resiliency,” Erica Fuller, senior attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, told the council.

But the decision was made over the objections of groups representing commercial fishing boats that catch herring and lobstermen who use the fish as bait. They argue that the herring population goes through natural ups and downs influenced more by environmental factors than fishing pressure.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal