Saving Seafood

Appeals court reinstates lobster fishing limits to preserve right whales

January 31, 2025 — Conservation groups are praising a recent decision to reinstate protections for endangered North Atlantic right whales in a particularly precarious stretch of ocean off the coast of Massachusetts.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston decided Thursday to restrict lobster fishing, which in turn restores protections for endangered right whales. That decision overturned a district court verdict by reinstating a 2024 National Marine Fisheries Service rule that cordoned off a 200 square mile area of federal waters between February and April, when right whales are present.

“The First Circuit’s decision represents a major victory for right whale conservation,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife, who argued the case for conservation groups. “The wedge closure affects only a handful of lobstermen for three months but protects right whales from the deadly fishing gear entanglements driving this species towards extinction.”

Found along the East Coast, the whales’ migratory paths overlap with highly productive lobster fishing areas in Maine and Massachusetts, making entanglements in fishing gear one of the major threats for the animals. With a population of less than 400 and even fewer reproductively active females, right whales are approaching extinction with more than half a dozen threats to their existence, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.

Read the full article at Maine Morning Star

How long can North Atlantic right whales live? Scientists may finally have an answer

December 26, 2024 — North Atlantic right whales currently only live to about 22 years old, but a new study finds they should be able to live to over 130.

Researchers from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and other institutions involved in the study say that only 10% of North Atlantic right whales reach the age of 47. The median age at death for the species is about 22.

In contrast, southern right whales, a closely related species, have a median lifespan of about 73 years, and 10% are expected to live to nearly 132 years of age.

Read the full article at GBH

First Circuit likely to save the whales despite lobstermen’s complaints

December 3, 2024 — An epic sea battle unfolded at the First Circuit Tuesday as Massachusetts fishermen tried to harpoon federal regulations that protect the North Atlantic right whale. But it appeared the judges were on the whales’ side and, as in “Moby Dick,” the fishermen may end up shipwrecked.

At issue is a federal rule that limits lobster and Jonah crab fisheries’ use of buoy lines, which can entangle and kill whales.

The fishermen’s lawyer, Daniel Cragg, told the judges that the rule resulted from Congress making a “drafting failure,” but the judges seemed incredulous.

“As between ‘Congress didn’t know what it was doing’ and ‘Congress did something that makes sense,’ it seems like making sense is the better option,” U.S. Circuit Judge Seth Aframe commented dryly during oral arguments.

For centuries right whales, which average 50 feet long and 50 to 75 tons, were targeted by whalers due to their docile nature and high blubber content. By 1937, when hunting them was banned worldwide, there were only about 100 left. The species rebounded a little, but in 1970 they were listed as endangered and the population today is estimated to be around 350.

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

2023 was a better year for right whales, but 2024 offers a ‘sobering’ outlook

October 23, 2024 — The number of North Atlantic right whales increased slightly last year, offering a glimmer of positive news for the critically endangered population.

There were 372 right whales counted, according to new data from the New England Aquarium and the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist with the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center, said the increase from 2023 reflects the birth of 12 whales. But it’s not a complete picture.

“The news for 2024 is much more sobering, with nine deaths, 13 injuries,” Hamilton said.

One right whale died from an entanglement in Maine fishing gear; three others were struck by boats. Another died from an unknown cause. And though 20 calves were born this year, a handful have already disappeared.

Read the full article at Maine Public

Wind power construction noise doesn’t destroy whale habitat, feds find

August 27, 2024 — The federal government issued a new “biological opinion” on the offshore wind power project off Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, finding that pile-driving noise associated with Vineyard Wind 1 is likely to adversely affect, but not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence of whales, fish or sea turtles listed under the Endangered Species Act.

“It will have no effect on any designated critical habitat,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries said in a statement. “NOAA Fisheries does not anticipate serious injuries to or mortalities of any ESA listed whale including the North Atlantic right whale.” The agency said that with mitigation measures, “all effects to North Atlantic right whales will be limited to temporary behavioral disturbance.”

NOAA Fisheries said Friday it was issuing its new opinion to the “federal action agencies” including Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which approved the Vineyard Wind 1 Project in 2021 and oversees offshore wind power development in federal lease areas.

Read the full story at WBUR

Feds announce funding push for ropeless fishing gear that spares rare whales

August 16, 2024 — New efforts to convert some types of commercial fishing to ropeless gear that is safer for rare whales will be supported by millions of dollars in funding, federal authorities said.

Federal fishing managers are promoting the use of ropeless gear in the lobster and crab fishing industries because of the plight of North Atlantic right whales. The whales number less than 360, and they face existential threats from entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with large ships.

The federal government is committing nearly $10 million to saving right whales, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Tuesday. Nearly $7 million of that will support the development of ropeless gear by providing funds to fishing industry members to assess and provide feedback on the technology, the agency said.

Lobster fishing is typically performed with traps on the ocean bottom that are connected to the surface via a vertical line. In ropeless fishing methods, fishermen use systems such an inflatable lift bag that brings the trap to the surface.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Interior defends Virginia offshore wind farm in court

May 7, 2024 — The Biden administration and the developer of a $9.8 billion wind farm off of Virginia Beach, Virginia, assured a federal court Friday that the project has all necessary approvals, amid claims that construction would harm the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The joint court filing from the Interior Department and Dominion Energy comes in response to a request to halt work on the massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is slated to include 176 turbines and is the largest project of its kind currently under development in the United States.

Dominion and Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management filed their response following an order from Judge Loren AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking clarity on whether NOAA Fisheries — which handles Endangered Species Act consultations for marine life — had approved mitigation plans to protect the vulnerable right whale.

Read the full story at E&E News

VIRGINIA: Dominion Energy says preliminary injunction request not delaying offshore wind construction

May 7, 2024 — The legal battle between Dominion Energy and three organizations opposed to its offshore wind project is heating up.

In March, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), the Heartland Institute, and the National Legal and Policy Center sued Dominion Energy, alleging it hadn’t taken the necessary steps to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale and other marine life during construction. Dominion Energy called the lawsuit “meritless.”

In the latest development, the three organizations requested a preliminary injunction, asking a judge to stop offshore construction before it starts.

A preliminary injunction is a judge-issued order that demands a defendant stop an allegedly harmful activity while a lawsuit progresses. On Monday afternoon, Dominion Energy submitted its response to the preliminary injunction request, calling the move an “eleventh hour attempt” to stop the project.

CFACT president Craig Rucker disagrees. “We need an injunction and a proper study that looks at all the cumulative aspects of these different wind farms,” he said.

Read the full story at 13News Now

Dominion Energy says court challenge not delaying Virginia wind project

May 2, 2024 — A coalition of groups opposing the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project was in a Washington, D.C. federal court this week, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop construction work in May. 

Conservative activist groups the Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) sued Dominion Energy and the Biden administration over federal permits for the planned 2.6 gigawatt project of 176 turbines.

The plaintiffs claim the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and other federal agencies “have not done the legally required research to determine the project won’t harm the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale,” according to a Heartland Institute statement.

U.S. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan called on lawyers for Dominion, the government and plaintiffs to file more papers and responses by May 9, before she rules on the groups’ request for a preliminary injunction.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

Proposed fund could help Maine lobstermen test new fishing gear

April 28, 2023 — State lawmakers are considering a measure that would create a new fund to help lobster fishermen test gear designed to reduce entanglement risks to endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The proposed fund would set aside $1 million for each of the next two years. The money would be paid to lobster fishermen who test ropeless and other kinds of new fishing gear designed to minimize interactions with right whales.

The most recent federal spending bill set aside nearly $20 million for fishing gear.

But Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said it’s reasonable that lobstermen receive a stipend for the work itself.

Read the full story at Maine Public