Saving Seafood

Measures to protect North Atlantic right whales have been effective, official says

October 9, 2018 — Representatives of the fishing industry and Fisheries and Oceans Canada met in Moncton over the weekend to look at the impact protection measures were having on the North Atlantic right whale — and to help decide what should happen next year.

The 2018 fishing season has been controversial, with fishermen in the Acadian Peninsula protesting the new federal measures that were put in place to protect the North Atlantic right whale.

Some of those measures included closing several fisheries where whales were present in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, speed restrictions for boats and increased surveillance.

“I think it was huge this year, the collaboration. The fishermen were very good at monitoring the management measures,” said Serge Doucet, regional director of Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the Gulf of St. Lawrence, speaking in French.

Doucet noted that no North Atlantic right whales died in Canadian waters this year from entanglements or collisions with fishing boats.

And although there have been some interactions with whales this year, the department believes that measures to protect right whales have been effective so far.

“There were challenges, it was not easy for all fishermen,” he said. “But their commitment to protect whales is there.”

Read the full story at CBC News

North Atlantic right whale disentangled 1 week after being spotted

August 7, 2018 — It took an hour and a half to disentangle a 10-year-old North Atlantic right whale that was spotted more than a week ago wrapped in fishing gear.

It was spotted by the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station Sunday afternoon, and reported to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, which ended up disentangling the whale.

Jerry Conway, who has been involved in whale disentanglement for four decades, said the team removed most of the gear from the whale.

“We can’t say that it was entirely disentangled, but we’re quite optimistic that it has been,” he said Monday morning.

Conway said it’s hard to know how far the whale had travelled from the area where it was originally spotted in last week.

“This whale had been entangled for five days … so it could have been anywhere.”

But according to Conway, the whale was spotted just off the coast of Grand Manan Island and it was not co-operative with the rescue team.

Read the full story at CBC

US wants proof Canada saves whales, but some scientists balk

May 1, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — A group of Democratic senators says the U.S. should audit the job Canada is doing to protect endangered whales, but the Canadian government and some U.S. scientists are reacting coolly to the idea.

The senators, led by Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, cite the dire status of North Atlantic right whales as a reason to put some pressure on Canada. The right whales number only about 450 and suffered through a year of 17 deaths in 2017, and 12 of the deaths were in Canada.

The senators said in an April 25 letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the agency should conduct a review of Canada’s right whale conservation standards, and consider prohibitions on some Canadian seafood imports if they are too weak. The U.S. imported more than $3.3 billion worth of Canadian seafood in 2017.

“Determining as quickly as possible whether Canada’s fishermen are being held to the same level of accountability as those in America is a critical step for taking swift action to protect this treasured species,” Markey said.

Canada believes it’s making a lot of strides to protect the whales, and also wants to avoid negative effects on the countries’ trade relationship, said Lauren Sankey, a spokeswoman for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Read the full story at the Associated Press