Saving Seafood

The futures of right whales and lobstermen are entangled. Could high-tech gear help save them both?

October 21, 2024 — It was a blessedly calm day as Scott Landry’s team set out in their inflatable boat to scan the glistening waters of Great South Channel between Rhode Island and Massachusetts for an endangered whale affectionately known as Wart. They were on a mission to save her life.

The group, from the nonprofit Center for Coastal Studies located in nearby Provincetown, had spent the better part of three years monitoring Wart after an aerial team spotted the North Atlantic right whale with a large piece of rope lodged in her mouth.

Instead of coming loose on its own, the fishing rope slowly tangled itself deeper into Wart’s baleens, hindering her ability to eat and reproduce. Finally, Landry’s team decided to take a more hands-on approach—a dangerous but necessary last resort.

“The first thing that people need to realize is that the animals do not know that we’re trying to help them out,” said Landry, the director of the center’s Marine Animal Entanglement Response Program. “These are just wild animals that we are approaching at a moment in their life that is quite horrible.”

Read the full article at the Maine Morning Star

NOAA confirms link between Maine lobster fishing and right whale death

October 4, 2024 — NOAA investigators have for the first time confirmed a link between the death of a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale and the Maine lobster industry.

The whale, right whale #5120, was found dead off the coast of Massachusetts in January 2024, and a necropsy in February found it was entangled in gear with markings that NOAA said were consistent with rope used in Maine state water trap/pot buoy lines used for lobster fishing.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA officials confirm fishing gear led to death of endangered right whale off New England coast

October 3, 2024 — Federal investigators said Maine fishing gear is to blame for the death of an endangered right whale.

Maine lobstermen said they’re sad to hear about the whale’s death, but they also fear new regulations will endanger their livelihoods. The female right whale was found dead near Martha’s Vineyard in January.

This death and investigation come as new lobster fishing regulations are up for debate.

One lobsterman said fishing without using a rope isn’t that simple and it would cost significantly more.

“It’s been an ongoing battle for a number of years. We have taken and modified our gear over the years to reduce the amount of rope that we use in the water, so the industry has done a lot that it’s been asked of,” John Drouin, a lobsterman, said.

Read the full article at WMUR

Exploring ropeless gear for sustainable lobster fishing

October 1, 2024 — On Thursday, August 29, 2024, NOAA Fisheries hosted a webinar looking at the future of ropeless, or pop-up, gear for the New England lobster fishery. NOAA’s Jennifer S. Goebel pointed out that the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team had recommended that large swaths of the Gulf of Maine and waters south of Cape Cod be subject to emergency closures and open to fishing with ropeless gear only.

Goebel noted, however, that the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries are currently in compliance with the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act; “the recommendations from the team were put on hold.” Goebel cited other legislation that calls for innovation in the adoption of gear technology as justification for efforts aimed at developing ropeless gear. “That seems to support the development of ropeless gear,” Goebel said, before outlining a 4-year plan to develop the technology and have final rules in place.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Lawmakers seek pause in offshore wind energy amid whale deaths

September 30, 2024 — House lawmakers are seeking a pause in offshore wind energy projects amid a string of whale deaths along the coasts of Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Maine. [FoxNews]

Last week, a deceased whale beached off Maryland’s coast, the second whale carcass discovered in the area in three weeks. In 2023, 37 humpback whales carcasses were discovered along the East Coast.

While a definite cause of death could not be determined, wind-energy proponents continue to argue the deaths have nothing to do with offshore wind farms.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) hosted a public hearing in August in which experts testified about the danger installing wind turbines poses marine wildlife. Harris called for an end to offshore wind energy in Maryland.

Read the full article at CalCoastNews.com

Right whales and offshore wind: reflections on an uneasy coexistence

September 26, 2024 — Michael Moore has spent decades studying North Atlantic right whales. He’s seen somewhere around 150 of them. It’s a feat, given that now there are just about 360 left in the world.

But the veterinarian, author, and scientist emeritus from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution had never seen an offshore wind farm up close — until last week.

“Look at them. All out in neat little rows,” he said, standing at the rear of a 53-foot charter boat that offered a closeup view of construction on Vineyard Wind, 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

About half of the planned 62 turbines are fully constructed, reaching more than 250 meters into the sky. When the boat slowed down to pass beneath one of the turbines, Moore was awestruck by the length of a blade.

“Right whales are 40 to 50 feet,” he said. “So you can stretch seven right whales along the length of one of these blades.”

Read the full article at CAI

NOAA: pile driving can be adverse to marine species

September 5, 2024 — The federal government is now saying that pile driving for the Vineyard Wind project is likely to have an adverse impact on marine life, although it won’t be a detriment to the population of the endangered North Atlantic right whales.

An announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in late ugust reads that the agency concluded the proposed pile driving for the installation of 15 remaining monopiles will “adversely affect, but is not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence” of whales, sea turtles, or fish listed in the Endangered Species Act.

“It will have no effect on any designated critical habitat,” the announcement reads. “NOAA Fisheries does not anticipate serious injuries to or mortalities of any Endangered Species Act listed whale including the North Atlantic right whale.”

The full biological opinion by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is not publicly available yet. NOAA spokesperson Andrea Gomez told the Times on Tuesday the new opinion will be available on the agency’s library website “any day now.”

Read the full article at MV Times

Biden announces USD 9 million for North Atlantic right whale recovery

August 15, 2024 — U.S. President Joe Biden has announced USD 9 million (EUR 8.2 million) in funding for partnerships aimed at conserving North Atlantic right whales.

“North Atlantic right whales are approaching extinction with approximately 360 individuals remaining, including fewer than 70 reproductively active females,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said. “It’s imperative we advance our collective actions to help recover this species, and these partnerships will help the science and conservation community do just that.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

North American lobster, Canadian snow crab downgraded to “avoid” by Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch

September 6, 2022 — The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch has released a new set of updated seafood ratings that place North American lobster and Canadian snow crab in the “avoid” category, primarily due to potential impacts the fishery could be having on North Atlantic right whales.

The updated Seafood Watch ratings, released in September 2022, reported the stock status of North American lobster (Homarus americanus) as “uncertain,” though it said overfishing is not occurring. However, it moved the fishery to its red “avoid” list, down from “good alternative,” due to the potential risks the fishery poses North Atlantic right whales. An estimated 330 North Atlantic right whales remain alive in the wild and the species is classified as critically endangered.