Saving Seafood

Feds Taking Final Comments About Plan to Save Right Whales

March 1, 2021 — The federal government is taking the last of the comments about a proposal to try to save an endangered species of whale.

The North Atlantic right whale numbers only about 360. The National Marine Fisheries Service is taking comments about its proposal to reduce risk to right whales until March 1.

The government’s proposal to help the whales includes changes to the U.S. lobster fishing industry, which is one of the most lucrative marine industries in the Northeast. The whales are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Extended Slow Zones to Protect Right Whales

March 1, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces the extension of three voluntary right whale Slow Zones (1) south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, (2) east of Boston, Massachusetts and (3) southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

On February 26, 2021, the New England Aquarium’s survey team observed the presence of right whales south of Nantucket. The Nantucket Slow Zone is in effect through March 13, 2021.

On February 27, 2021, Rutgers University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution slocum gliders detected the presence of right whales east of Boston, MA and southeast of Atlantic City, NJ. These Slow Zones are in effect through March 14, 2021.

Mariners are requested to route around these areas or transit through them at 10 knots or less.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

Southeast of Atlantic City, in effect through March 14, 2021

39 25 N
38 44 N
073 44 W
074 36 W

East of Boston, in effect through March 14, 2021

42 40 N
42 00 N
069 57 W
070 52 W

South of Nantucket, in effect through March 13, 2021

41 23 N
40 40 N
069 39 W
070 35 W

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

Read the full release here

Protecting right whales: Advocates, fishermen say proposal needs more work

March 1, 2021 — A fatal collision that killed a baby whale and injured his mother in waters south of Brunswick is the latest impetus for advocates of whales to respond by the March 1 deadline for public comments on proposed federal rules intended to protect right whales.

The infant and his mother, named Infinity, were struck Feb. 12, off St. Augustine Inlet, Fl. The captain of a 54-foot sport fishing vessel reported that he’d driven over a whale. The boat began taking on water and the captain grounded the boat to prevent her from sinking, according to a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. No human injuries were reported.

The 22-foot-long carcass of the infant whale washed ashore at Anastasia State Park. The mother, known in scientific circles as Catalog #3230, was spotted off the coast of South Georgia on Feb. 16, with “two new cuts on her left side suggestive of a vessel strike,” according to a report from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

This incident helped fuel an attendance of more than 300 at last week’s virtual public hearing on the proposed revision of a federal regulation regarding the protection of whales from commercial fishing gear. Attention to the plight of right whales is increasing as their numbers dwindle. Fewer than 350 of the mammals are thought to exist, according to a report issued Wednesday by the New England Aquarium, which has studied right whales for 40 years.

Read the full story at The Saporta Report

Little time left to save the North Atlantic right whale

February 26, 2021 — After years of petitioning the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect North Atlantic right whales, conservation groups recently filed an emergency lawsuit asking the US government to expand protections for the highly endangered species.

Right whales were once hunted to near extinction, but when hunting was banned in 1935, the population of right whales began to slowly bounce back. Today, the population is again in free fall. Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are killing more right whales each year than are being born. Less than 400 of these giant marine mammals remain, making them a critically endangered species.

The National Marine Fisheries Service currently has a rule in place that requires vessels over 65 feet long to slow down in certain areas at certain times of the year to prevent right whales from getting run over and killed by ships. In 2012, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to expand the scope of that rule so that it applies in more areas and to smaller vessels.

“The agency has never responded to our petition, despite a host of evidence indicating that the rule, while it’s effective in the places and times that it applies, is not effective enough,” says Kristen Monsell, senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Read the full story at The World

Maine’s congressional delegation asks Biden to protect lobstermen from proposed rules to save right whales

February 26, 2021 — Maine’s congressional delegation has asked President Biden to protect the lobster industry as federal agencies weigh a series of proposed rules that they say “would be a death knell” for the state’s most valuable fishery.

The four delegation members called on Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to “protect the livelihood and safety of the fishing community.”

“Maine’s lobstermen are seeking your assurance that they can continue to provide for their families, that their communities will survive, and that their children will be able to continue Maine’s long-standing lobstering heritage. We urge you to recognize the impact these proposed conservation measures will have on our lobstermen, fishermen, and the entire seafood industry in the state of Maine,” Sen. Angus King, Sen. Susan Collins, Rep. Chellie Pingree and Rep. Jared Golden wrote in the letter, which was sent Wednesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently released a series of proposed amendments to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan in an effort to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

MAINE: Gov. Mills: Future of lobster industry is threatened

February 25, 2021 — A draft federal biological opinion on the impact of fisheries on endangered North Atlantic right whales would “necessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery,” Governor Janet Mills wrote in a forceful Feb. 19 letter to NOAA Fisheries, citing “grave concern” and “inequities.”

The draft biological opinion includes a conservation framework that calls for a 98 percent reduction in risk to whales from U.S. federal fixed gear fisheries, including lobster fishing, over the next decade.

“The survival of Maine’s iconic lobster fishery, and in fact, our heritage, through the future of Maine’s independent lobstermen and women, depend on your willingness to act,” Mills wrote to Michael Pentony, NOAA Fisheries regional administrator. The letter was included with the state Department of Marine Resources’ comments on the draft opinion.

In his comment letter, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher wrote that his agency is “deeply concerned” that while several human causes of whale mortality are cited, “the draft Bi-Op places the overwhelming majority of the burden to reduce mortality/serious injury on U.S. fisheries, and specifically the U.S. trap/pot fishery.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Study finds human-caused North Atlantic right whale deaths are being undercounted

February 25, 2021 — A study co-authored by scientists at the New England Aquarium has found that known deaths of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales represent a fraction of the true death toll. This comes as the death of a calf and recent sightings of entangled right whales off the southeastern United States raise alarm.

The study, published this month in Conservation Science and Practice, analyzed cryptic mortality of right . Cryptic mortality refers to deaths resulting from human activities that do not result in an observed carcass. The study’s authors combined data on whale encounters, , serious injuries, and necropsies from the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium Identification Database curated by the New England Aquarium with the serious injury and mortality database held by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The scientists concluded that known deaths of the critically  accounted for only 36% of all estimated death from 1990 to 2017.

“Our work has shown that 83% of identified right whales have been entangled one or more times in , and an increasing number of these events result in severe injuries or complex entanglements that the whales initially survive. But we know their health becomes compromised and they eventually succumb and sink upon death,” said Amy Knowlton, senior scientist with the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Extinction worries loom for both lobster industry and right whales

February 25, 2021 — Lobster fishermen are worried that federal regulations, proposed to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from entanglement in fishing gear, could put the industry out of business.

Conservationists worry the whale won’t survive much longer, given increased concerns about gear entanglement and ship strikes.

The National Marine Fisheries Service — an agency that’s part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is responsible for overseeing fishing in federal waters — is in the midst of holding hearings on proposed modifications to the federal government’s “Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.”

Proposed changes aim to reduce entanglement in trap and pot fisheries for right whales, as well as humpback and finback whales, in order to reduce death and serious injury in accordance with two federal fishery laws, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

WHOI and NOAA fisheries release new North Atlantic right whale health assessment review

February 25, 2021 — Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) along with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries have released the first broad scale synthesis of available information derived from right whale health assessment techniques. The manuscript published today in the science journal Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, reviews available tools, and current understanding of the health status and trends of individual whales and the species. The paper concludes with recommendations for additional information needs and necessary management actions to enhance the health of individual right whales.

The manuscript is the result of a NOAA Fisheries workshop held in June 2019, in response to the ongoing North Atlantic right whale Unusual Mortality Event (UME) and the critically endangered status of the species. There are an estimated 366 left on the planet. Climate change, vessel strikes, entanglements and noise pollution can result in poor health and reproductive failure and are major threats to individuals and the species.

According to lead author Michael Moore, a whale trauma specialist at WHOI, “North Atlantic right whales face a serious risk of extinction, but there is hope if we can work together on solutions. Trauma reduction measures and applying new tools to assess their health are critically important to enhance the welfare of individual whales. If we can reduce the number of deaths, and successfully improve their health to increase reproduction, the current decline in population can be reversed.”

Read the full story at EurekAlert

Maine Gov. Janet Mills Warns Draft Right Whale Biological Opinion Will be Devastating For Lobstermen

February 24, 2021 — Maine’s Governor Janet Mills is speaking out on the North Atlantic right whale draft Biological Opinion. The Maine Department of Marine Resources filed comments with NOAA late last week regarding the draft Biological Opinion for 10 fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region, focusing on the North Atlantic Right Whale. Governor Mills’ “grave” concerns were outlined in a cover letter included with the DMR’s comments.

One of the issues regarding the draft Biological Opinion is that it calls for a 98% risk reduction over 10 years in U.S. fixed gear fisheries, including lobster. And as Mills wrote, “In the absence of a significant change, this Framework will necessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery.” Fishermen would not only be limited in putting out traps, but they would also have to invest in new gear. The results would be economically devastating to the state’s coastal economy.

Read the full story at Seafood News