Saving Seafood

Environmental group sues feds for failing to protect humpback whales from deadly fishing gear

January 11, 2022 — The Center for Biological Diversity sued the National Marine Fisheries Service Monday, accusing the agency of failing to protect endangered Pacific humpback whales from deadly entanglements in sablefish pot gear off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington.

Here’s the center’s news release on the lawsuit:

Monday’s lawsuit challenges the federal permit given to the fishery in December to kill and injure endangered humpback whales without any changes to avoid harming whales. Fishing gear entanglements are a leading threat to endangered humpbacks that migrate along the West Coast, where 48,521 square nautical miles were designated as critical habitat in April.

Read the full story at KTVZ

 

Experts Collaborate on Mission to Document Protected Species

July 19, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Scientists from NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center recently completed the first leg of a mission to survey marine mammals and other protected species in waters off the southeast coast of the United States. They are locating, identifying, and counting marine mammals from both the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter and a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft.

The data they collect will be used to assess the abundance, distribution, ecology, and behavior of marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds throughout the U.S. Atlantic. These data are also critical for updating the Atlantic stock assessment reports required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

Usually, we conduct these marine mammal surveys annually but were not able to collect data in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The beginning of this trip has also had some challenges—two tropical storms have made for rough seas and grounded flights.

In spite of these challenges, the ship-board team has logged 325 marine mammal sightings—a single leg record for the team—since departing Newport, Rhode Island on June 12 and arriving in Charleston, South Carolina on July 3. Notable sightings included two large Clymene dolphin (Stenella clymene) sightings, a Gervais’ beaked whale (Mesoplodon europaeus) sighting, and multiple false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) sightings. Scientists were also towing a hydrophone array to collect passive acoustic data—underwater sounds from whales and dolphins. They collected 76 recordings, 16 of which were from sperm whale groups.

Read the full release here

Scientists seeing an increase in shark sightings off the New England coast

July 13, 2021 — While you’re enjoying the beach, something unexpected could be lurking close by.

“Just on the other side of here, I’ve encountered multiple sharks. [You have?] Yep, you know, eight to ten feet of water. [Like while you’re just out working?] Yep, the last one I encountered was in under eight feet of water off the beach just on the other side,” Capt. Kelly Zimmerman of the Got Stryper Fishing Charter tells us.

Kelly has been a captain for the Got Stryper Fishing Charter out of Chatham, Massachusetts on Cape Cod for six years now.

Early on, people who went fishing with Captain Kelly would catch big striped bass. Not so much now.

“The seal population has increased and the more seals that I see, the less of those big bass are sticking around,” Zimmerman explained.

He’s right. The seal population has increased noticeably, thanks in part to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

More seals comes more sharks, most notably great white sharks that average about fifteen feet in length.

Read the full story at WFSB

NOAA Fisheries Releases Proposed Rule for Marine Mammal Non-Lethal Deterrents

August 31, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries is soliciting input on a proposed regulation for safely deterring marine mammals from damaging fishing gear or catch, damaging personal or public property, or endangering personal safety. MMPA section 101(a)(4)(B) directs the Secretary of Commerce, through NOAA Fisheries, to publish guidelines for safely deterring marine mammals and recommend specific measures to non-lethally deter marine mammals listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This is an opportunity for the public to provide input on these guidelines and recommended specific measures. NOAA Fisheries has included in the guidelines and recommended specific measures those deterrents that are unlikely to kill or seriously injure marine mammals; we have not evaluated the effectiveness of deterrents.

We are accepting comments on the proposed rule for 60 days through 10-30-2020.  For more information and to review the draft Environmental Assessment and other materials prepared in support of this action visit our website.

Whale Week 2020: NOAA Saves Whales with Science

February 11, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Whales, dolphins, and porpoises belong to a group of marine mammals called cetaceans. NOAA Fisheries works to ensure the conservation of all cetaceans, which are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Some populations, such as the Cook Inlet beluga, North Atlantic right whale, and Southern Resident killer whale have been identified as Species in the Spotlight due to their endangered status and declining populations. We work with many partners to protect and recover species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Join us as we celebrate Whale Week, February 10–16, 2020, leading up to World Whale Day on February 16, 2020. Check out the latest whale-related news and videos below and stay tuned for more new content throughout the week!

Read the full release here

NOAA argues to allow Makah Tribe to hunt gray whales off Washington again

November 15, 2019 — More than two decades ago, Makah tribal members killed a 30-foot gray whale in the waters off the Olympic Peninsula amid bitter protests from animal-welfare activists.

The tribal hunt in May 1999 touched off a protracted legal battle that on Thursday took center stage inside a Seattle federal building.

The proceedings over the tribe’s treaty right to hunt gray whales are expected to last more than a week in the courtroomlike setting.

Opponents have raised concerns about the impacts of climate change on the eastern North Pacific gray population, while the tribe hopes Administrative Law Judge George Jordan will recommend a waiver to the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The Makah, whose lands are on the northwest tip of Washington, have the right to hunt whales through their 1855 treaty with the U.S. government. Tribal whaling advocates hailed the 1999 hunt as an important renewal of a tradition that helps define the Makah. But opponents have so far blocked, through court and regulatory challenges, the tribe from conducting more federally approved hunts.

Read the full story at The Seattle Times

More than 260 dolphins found stranded along the Gulf Coast since February. Scientists aren’t sure why.

June 17, 2019 — Scientists are trying to determine why more than 260 bottlenose dolphins have been found stranded along the Northern Gulf of Mexico since the beginning of February.

The number of dolphin deaths is about three times higher than the average for the time period, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday.

The strandings in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the panhandle of Florida have been declared an Unusual Mortality Event, or UME.

A UME is defined under the Marine Mammal Protection Act as “a stranding that is unexpected; involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population; and demands immediate response.”

Read the full story at USA Today

Possible whale-protection strategies? Lobster trap reductions, more traps on one line

June 6, 2019 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources is in the midst of a first round of meetings with the lobster industry, to discuss strategies to cope with an expected 50% cut in the number of “endlines” in the water.

Endlines are the vertical lines that connect lobster traps that are on the ocean bottom with a buoy at the sea surface. The buoy identifies where the traps are, and the vertical lines are used to haul up the traps.

The agency is holding the meetings with Maine’s seven Lobster Management Zone Councils during June to facilitate the development of a proposal that meets targets established by the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team for protecting right whales, according to an agency news release.

The team has recommended broad measures for Maine that include removing 50% of vertical lines from the Gulf of Maine and the use of weak rope in the top of remaining vertical lines. The measures put forward by the team are driven by federal laws designed to protect whales. The laws are the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Whale woes: Maine lobster reps agree to 50 percent cut in vertical lines

May 1, 2019 — After months of speculation and hand-wringing, Northeast lobstermen got a clear message from NMFS at the federal Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team meeting last week: Make drastic changes, or we’ll do it for you.

“On day three of the TRT meeting, NMFS Deputy Assistant Administrator Sam Rauch… did not mince words in stating that the TRT’s job is to identify measures to reduce right whale serious injury and mortality from lobster gear by 60-80 percent,” said Maine Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Patrice McCarron in an April 29 letter to members. “He was clear that the TRT meeting gave the fishing industry its opportunity to shape how that reduction is achieved. If we failed that task, NMFS would begin rulemaking without our advice and decide for us.”

The 64-member team — established in 1996 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act — includes East Coast fishermen and associations representing fixed-gear fisheries, fishery managers, environmental organizations and scientists. Maine’s lobster industry holds four seats on the team, including McCarron’s.

Read the full story at National Fisherman