Saving Seafood

Federal fisheries service agrees to deal aimed at curbing whale entanglements in fishing gear

July 19, 2023 — A legal agreement finalized Tuesday over the protection of humpback whales is expected to help the threatened animals thrive while maintaining the ocean’s health.

The deal stricken between the National Marine Fisheries Service and Center for Biological Diversity will create a team to reduce the number of whales that get tangled in a West Coast federal fishery. The service will form the team by Oct. 31, 2025, a press release stated.

“There is no reason these animals should have to suffer or die in this way,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the center. “This agreement is incredibly important.”

A federal court in March sided with the center after it filed suit last year against the fisheries service. The center argued the service failed to protect Pacific humpback whales from getting entangled in sablefish pot gear off the California, Oregon and Washington coasts.

According to Monsell, the fishery operates in an area with two humpback whale populations: a Central American population and a Mexican one. The Central American population is considered endangered and only hundreds of the whales remain. The Mexican population is threatened and some 3,000 remain.

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

Panel: Climate change, not wind prep, is threat to whales

April 25, 2023 — Climate change, spurred by the burning of fossil fuels, is the biggest danger to marine life including whales, a panel of Democratic officials and environmental groups said Monday.

The gathering, held in an oceanfront conference room as a half-dozen dolphins frolicked in the ocean behind them, also strongly criticized a bill in the House of Representatives containing numerous incentives for oil and gas companies, and which eliminates several environmental protections currently in effect.

It also was a retort to opponents of offshore wind development, who claim that preparation for wind farms off New Jersey and New York are killing whales along the U.S. East Coast. Numerous federal and state agencies say there is no evidence that the deaths are related to offshore wind survey work.

The event came a week after U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. and other New Jersey Congressional Democrats wrote to the White House Council on Environmental Quality “demanding real solutions in response to the death of marine mammals off New Jersey’s coast.”

Read the full article at the Associated Press 

Feds to reevaluate threat of gillnet fishing to humpback whales

April 23, 2023 — Environmentalists claimed victory following an agreement by the National Marine Fisheries Service to complete a new biological assessment on the state of humpback whales living in the waters off the West Coast.

The announcement follows a joint stipulation approved Thursday by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer after the Center for Biological Diversity sued Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2022. The suit claimed the drift gillnet fishery caused “excessive harm to endangered humpback whales,” in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

“Humpback whales just won a key victory against destructive gillnets,” said Catherine Kilduff, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. “These amazing animals face so many threats off California, and absurdly huge nets are a hazard they really shouldn’t have to dodge. This agreement will help ensure whales are protected while the drift gillnet fishery winds down operations over the next five years.”

Kilduff said humpbacks have been endangered since the creation of the Endangered Species Act in 1973.

Read the full article at Courthouse New Service

NEW JERSEY: GOP congressmen: Halt offshore wind, probe whale deaths

March 19, 2023 — Republican congressmen called Thursday for a halt to all offshore wind power projects amid a spate of whale deaths on the U.S. East Coast in what was likely the beginning of an expected investigation by the GOP-controlled House into the Biden administration’s clean energy plans.

Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Christopher Smith, of New Jersey; Andy Harris, of Maryland; and Scott Perry, of Pennsylvania, held a hearing on the boardwalk in Wildwood near where New Jersey has authorized three offshore wind farms, with more to come.

The hearing came as 29 whales have died on the East Coast since Dec. 1.

Opponents of offshore wind, elected officials — most of them Republicans — and several community groups say they believe that preparatory work on the ocean floor has been responsible for the whale deaths, even though three federal and one state agency say there is no evidence that the two are related.

Read the full article at the Associated Press 

NEW JERSEY: ‘No credible evidence’ that offshore wind activity is killing whales, state officials say

March 18, 2023 — The state’s Department of Environmental Protection, which has been quiet publicly on the recent spate of whale deaths, said Wednesday that it’s “aware of no credible evidence that offshore wind-related survey activities could cause whale mortality.”

“While DEP has no reason to conclude that whale mortality is attributable to offshore wind-related activities, DEP will continue to monitor,” the statement said.

The DEP’s statement came the day before two members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), and a member of Maryland’s congressional delegation, Rep. Andy Harris (D- MD), are to host a hearing titled “An Examination into Offshore Wind Industrialization” at the Wildwood Convention Center. The hearing is to gather testimony from local experts and stakeholders affected by offshore wind development along the East Coast.

Read the full article at app.

Judge wants plan to protect humpback whales from fishery

March 16, 2023 —

A U.S. judge this week ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the law when it failed to develop a plan to prevent West Coast commercial sablefish fishermen from harming humpback whales.

The Endangered Species Act requires the fisheries service to develop a plan to reduce the number of whales accidentally injured or killed by the fishery, but the agency neither crafted such a plan nor started to create one, the ruling said.

About 150 commercial fishing vessels use traps to capture sablefish in waters off California, Oregon and Washington.

The fisheries service estimates the fishery accidentally injuries or kills an average of one humpback whale per year.

Sablefish dwell on muddy ocean floors deeper than 650 feet (200 meters). To target the fish, fishermen place multiple heavy pots on the seafloor and link them together with heavy-duty fishing line.

Read the full article at the Washington Post

Congressman Jared Golden to NOAA: Share Findings on Recent Whale Strandings

March 2, 2023 — Maine Congressman Jared Golden is calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to release more information on the recent increase in whale strandings that have been happening along the Atlantic Coast.

“As you are aware, in the past two months alone, the Marine Mammal Stranding Network has reported at least 18 cases of whales found washed ashore along the Atlantic Coast,” Golden wrote in a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and National Marine Fisheries Service Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Janet Coit. “Alarmingly, humpback whales and North Atlantic right whales – both species currently experiencing Unusual Mortality Events – are the two species that account for the majority of these strandings. At least seven dead humpback whales have already been reported in 2023, including four in New Jersey. This is in addition to a North Atlantic right whale that was found stranded along Virginia Beach earlier this month.”

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

NEW JERSEY: Mayors call for wind power moratorium amid whale deaths

February 28, 2023 — A group of 30 New Jersey mayors are seeking a temporary moratorium on new wind power projects, citing a recent spike in whale deaths.

In a letter to President Joe Biden and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, the mayors called for a suspension of wind power projects off the coast until federal and state governments conduct investigations to determine if activities are a “contributing factor in the recent whale deaths.”

The municipal leaders, who represent coastal communities that are reliant on beach tourism, said if a review determines wildlife is being impacted the projects should be halted completely.

“While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these projects may already be having on our environment,” they wrote. “We again urge you to take action now to prevent future deaths from needlessly occurring on our shorelines.”

The request comes amid a rise in whale deaths on the eastern Atlantic coast, at least 10 of which have washed up on beaches in New Jersey and New York. Two weeks ago, a 35-foot humpback whale washed up on a beach along the New Jersey coastline.

Read the full article at The Center Square

Why 23 Dead Whales Have Washed Up on the East Coast Since December

February 28, 2023 — First a North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species, washed ashore in Virginia. Then a humpback floated onto a beach in New Jersey. Not long afterward, a minke whale, swept in on the morning tide, landed on the Rockaway Peninsula in New York City.

And that was in just a single week this month.

In all, 23 dead whales have washed ashore along the East Coast since early December, including 12 in New Jersey and New York, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The pace of the deaths is worrisome to federal scientists, even if the total numbers are below some prior years.

Late Monday, the Coast Guard spotted another whale floating south of the Ambrose shipping channel, between New York and New Jersey; two teams from New York located the animal and determined that it was a humpback, but it was not clear where it might wash ashore.

Most of the fatalities have been humpbacks, and post-mortem examinations have suggested that ship strikes are likely the cause of many of the deaths.

Read the full article at the New York Times

Biden’s Offshore Wind Dreams Face Rising Controversy, Opposition

February 28, 2023 — In stark contrast to its do-nothing approach to holding lease sales for offshore oil and gas exploration, the Biden administration has mounted an aggressive push to speed along the development of offshore wind farms in the federally-owned waters of the United States. But that effort is now facing pushback from a rising number of stakeholders, even as a series of mysterious whale deaths along the Atlantic coast has raised concerns about potential negative impacts on marine life from the projects.

By now, most Americans are likely aware of the increasing number of whales that have been found grounded on Atlantic beaches, some of which lie adjacent to offshore wind projects already under development. At least 10 whales have died in such events along the coasts of New York and New Jersey in recent months, leading to speculation that noise and other impacts arising from offshore wind-related activities might be the cause. Increasing public concerns over the whale deaths led 30 New Jersey mayors last week to call for a moratorium on further offshore wind activities pending additional studies to assess possible cause and effect.

While no conclusive linkage between the projects and the marine mammal deaths has been scientifically established, the controversy is leading some to wonder why the same environmental groups that have traditionally urged a cautious approach to oil and gas projects to protect marine life have failed to raise similar objections to the offshore wind activities. This apparent lack of concern seems especially questionable given that some of the whale deaths have been among American right whales, an endangered species consisting of just 340 remaining individuals.

Read the full article at Forbes