Saving Seafood

New tool aims to map whale movement

July 12, 2021 — A lot of people want to know where right whales are and where they are going. As the state’s lobster fishery faces dramatic changes to preserve the species, regulators, fishermen and conservationists all want to know the paths the critically endangered species take up and down the east coast.  

“We’re constantly being asked ‘Where did you get detections?’” said Genevieve Davis, a research biologist working in passive acoustic research at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass.  

To help visualize the paths of right whales, as well as several other species of whale, Davis and other researchers created a mapping tool based on data from underwater listening devices that have picked up the sounds of whales going all the way back to 2004.  

The map includes data from several different listening devices, known as hydrophones, operated from platforms such as bottom-mounted moorings, surface buoys, Slocum gliders and towed hydrophone arrays. It also brought together data from several different studies and researchers and compiled them into a single, navigable tool.  

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

New slow zone to protect right whales off Martha’s Vineyard

July 7, 2021 — The federal government is implementing a new “slow zone” for boaters south of Martha’s Vineyard to try to protect rare whales.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday that the new slow zone will be in effect until July 18. It’s designed to protect North Atlantic right whales, which number only about 360.

The agency is asking mariners to route around the area altogether or travel through it at 10 knots (11.5 mph) or less. The zone went into effect on July 2.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Daily Times

Conservation groups claim flaws in new federal right whale document

July 6, 2021 — Now that they have released a new biological opinion, federal fisheries managers are asking a federal court to end the ongoing litigation over the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.  

Last month, the federal government filed for a final judgement in the lawsuit filed against the National Marine Fisheries Service by several conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Conservation Law Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife and the Humane Society.  

NMFS argued that, if there was an issue with the adequacy of the new biological opinion – a document from the service that states whether or not a federal action will jeopardize a species or its habitat – a new challenge would have to be filed.  

The conservation groups have pushed back against this legal logistics claim and have filed a motion of their own contending that there are several issues with the biological opinion. The new opinion does not address the issues the court found in the document’s previous iteration, which are central to the lawsuit in the first place.  

“NMFS cannot simply ignore the Court’s Opinions and Orders because it disagrees with the analysis or because compliance would be inconvenient,” the groups wrote in a recent filing. 

Last year, a federal judge found that the NMFS was in violation of the Endangered Species Act when it allowed the American lobster fishery to continue without an incidental take permit for North Atlantic right whales. Entanglements are considered one of the biggest threats to the species, which now has less than 400 individuals.  

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Slow Zone Southwest of Martha’s Vineyard to Protect Right Whales

July 6, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a new voluntary right whale Slow Zone.  On July 2, 2021, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution acoustic buoy detected right whales southwest of Martha’s Vineyard.  This Slow Zone is in effect through July 18, 2021.

Mariners are requested to route around this or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

Southwest of Martha’s Vineyard, July 2-18, 2021

41 23 N
40 44 N
071 16 W
070 23 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Active Seasonal Management Areas 

Mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) are in effect in the following areas:

Great South Channel, April 1 – July 31

Find out more and get the coordinates for each mandatory slow speed zone.

Give Right Whales Room

North Atlantic right whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. NOAA is cautioning boaters and fishermen to give these endangered whales plenty of room. We are also asking all fishermen to be vigilant when maneuvering to avoid accidental collisions with whales and remove unused gear from the ocean to help avoid entanglements. Commercial fishermen should use vertical lines with required markings, weak links, and breaking strengths.

Right Whales in Trouble

North Atlantic right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Scientists estimate there are only about 400 remaining, making them one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

North Atlantic right whales are NOAA Fisheries’ newest Species in the Spotlight. This initiative is a concerted, agency-wide effort to spotlight and save marine species that are among the most at risk of extinction in the near future. 

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.

Read the full release here

US lobster fisheries anxious over upcoming whale protections

July 6, 2021 — The profitable U.S. lobster fishery will soon have to contend with new rules designed to protect an endangered species of whale, and that could necessitate major changes for people in the industry.

The federal government is working on new rules designed to reduce risk to North Atlantic right whales, which number only about 360. One of the threats the whales face is entanglement in ropes that connect to lobster and crab traps in the ocean.

The new rules are expected to be released late this summer or early in fall, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. Early indications show that the changes required by the rules could be significant.

Right whales were once abundant off the East Coast, but they were decimated by hunting during the commercial whaling era. They’ve been listed as endangered since 1970, but the population remains small, and in jeopardy. Recent years have also brought high mortality and poor reproduction among the whales.

They’re also vulnerable to ship strikes, and face the looming threat of warming oceans. Acting NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Paul Doremus said in June that the U.S. and Canada, which also harvests lobsters, must “take and sustain additional efforts to reduce right whale mortalities and serious injuries.”

The rules will focus on reducing the number of vertical ropes in the water, and they’re also expected to modify restricted areas of ocean, the government has said. A conservation framework released by the federal government in May states that the first phase of rules will be designed to reduce risk to the whales by 60%.

The lobster industry is prepared to do its part to conserve the whales, but a near complete risk reduction would require a total overhaul of the fishery, said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Post

ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Preliminary Agenda & Public Comment Guidelines

July 2, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The agenda is subject to change. Bulleted items represent the anticipated major issues to be discussed or acted upon at the meeting. The final agenda will include additional items and may revise the bulleted items provided below. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled Board meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of Board meetings. Interested parties should anticipate Boards starting earlier or later than indicated herein.

Monday, August 2

1:30 – 4:00 p.m.                     American Lobster Management Board

  • Progress Report on Development of Draft Addendum XXVII on Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank Resiliency
  • Review Workgroup Report on Vessel Tracking Devices in Federal Lobster and Jonah Crab Fisheries
  • Consider Report on Available Data for Assessment, Data Limitations and Uncertainty, and Recommended Assessment Approaches for Jonah Crab
    • Consider Initiation of a Benchmark Stock Assessment
  • Consider Development of Management Strategy Evaluation of the American Lobster Fisheries

4:15 – 5:15 p.m.                     Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (ALWTRT) Update

  • Update on Efforts to Collect Information for the ALWTRT to Develop Recommendations to Modify the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to Reduce Risk to North Atlantic Right Whales in Coastwide Gillnet and Atlantic Mixed Species Trap Pot Fisheries, and Mid-Atlantic Lobster Fisheries

Read the full release here

In fight over right whales and lobster fishery, all sides want to know more about the whales’ activities off Maine

June 28, 2021 — The historic migration patterns of endangered North Atlantic right whales have been changing over the past decade, possibly due to climate change. Federal regulators, meanwhile, are considering drastic measures to protect the whales against deadly entanglement in fishing gear and rope.

So, the question of where and when the whales are swimming in relation to Maine’s lobster fishery is gaining urgency. Now, new efforts are underway to pinpoint their travel habits.

Last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration created a new website that maps almost two decades of work to detect whales off the east coast, via “passive acoustic” recorders set on buoys, on submerged platforms, and on underwater gliders that can zig and zag around the Gulf of Maine for months at a time.

“We’re seeing that you are getting whales. They are calling,” said Genevieve Davis, a research biologist at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Track Whale Detections With This Interactive Map

June 25, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center have created a new data mapping tool to help people understand when and where large whales occur off the East Coast.

The underlying data include detections made by underwater listening devices — called hydrophones — operated from stationary platforms, such as bottom-mounted moorings and surface buoys. They were also made by mobile platforms like Slocum gliders and towed hydrophone arrays. The map includes sounds made by sei, fin, blue, humpback and North Atlantic right whales from 2004 to the present.

“Our goal was to provide all the archived data we have, plus data from collaborators, in one place and make it easy for managers, stakeholders and scientists to access it themselves and explore the data in a format that would be helpful,” said Sofie Van Parijs, one of the creators and lead of the center’s passive acoustics research group. “We hope to add in data collected by the wind industry, and invite other researchers and sources of this type of data to share what they have with us to make this dataset as comprehensive as possible.”

Those interested in contributing to the data can contact the developers at nmfs.pacmdata@noaa.gov.

Recent additions to the dataset include all beaked whales, sperm whales, and dwarf and pygmy sperm whales (Kogia species) detected from 2013 to the present. Current recording locations range from the waters of the western North Atlantic, off Greenland, to the Caribbean Sea.

Data about each detection is incorporated into the mapping tool, including:

  • Location
  • Season
  • Number of deployments of that recording gear
  • Number of recorded days and detections
  • Type of detection: definite, possible, no detection, or data collected but not yet analyzed.

Read the full release here

NOAA Administrator Talks Recent U.S.-Canada Meeting on North Atlantic Right Whale Mortalities

June 21, 2021 — Acting NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Paul Doremus provided an update following a meeting with Canadian officials that focused on the management and conservation of North Atlantic right whales.

On June 10, NOAA, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada held their first biannual meeting of the year. NOAA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, Sam Rauch, and Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, Mike Pentony were present for the virtual meeting.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Film highlights how lobster fishers could help save right whales

June 21, 2021 — David Abel sees a clear solution to the human threat posed to North Atlantic right whales, involving a rethink of the rope-based methods of lobster fishing off New England and Atlantic Canada.

The Boston Globe journalist and documentary maker, along with producer Andy Laub, laid out the vision in the film “Entangled” released this week. It portrays the tensions between environmentalists, regulators and lobster harvesters during 2019 as the whale appeared on the way to potential extinction.

Warming waters in the northeastern Atlantic have put the whales on a collision course with fishing gear in lobster and crab areas, as well as bringing the animals into shipping lanes where vessel strikes are more probable, the documentary notes.

The threats have created challenges for the National Marine Fisheries Service in the United States and the federal Fisheries Department, as they’ve have struggled to balance the vying interests of an endangered species with the need to preserve a mainstay fishery of northeastern North America’s coastal communities.

Read the full story at Canada’s National Observer