Saving Seafood

North Atlantic right whales listed as ‘critically endangered’ — one step below extinction

July 16, 2020 — North Atlantic right whales are now listed as “critically endangered,” with approximately only 400 remaining, data from the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium states. Given this striking plummet in population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) relisted the species as “critically endangered” from its previous “endangered.”

The Smithsonian Magazine reports that the majority of right whale deaths over the past three years have been a result of encountering boats and fishing endeavors along the coastal U.S. and Canada. Right whales reportedly swim with their mouths open to eat, and are often fatally entangled in nets and lines cast for lobsters and fish.

“We are running out of time to save these magnificent yet very vulnerable animals,” said Vikki N. Spruill, the New England Aquarium’s president and CEO, in a prepared statement. “Whaling nearly killed right whales in the early 1900s. Science tells us that we need to take immediate and urgent steps to prevent that from happening now.”

The right whales have been suffering population declines since 2017, when there was a total of 17 confirmed dead whales between U.S. and Canadian waters. While numbers in 2018 and 2019 were not that large, an additional 13 deaths were recorded cumulatively, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries data.

Read the full story at The Hill

The International Union for Conservation of Nature Updates Classification of the North Atlantic Right Whales from Endangered to Critically Endangered

July 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The International Union for Conservation of Nature recently changed its Red List Category for North Atlantic right whales from Endangered to Critically Endangered. The criteria used to evaluate this change are outlined in the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, Section V. Within the United States, North Atlantic right whales are already in the highest risk category possible under both the Marine Mammal Protection Act (Strategic and Depleted) and Endangered Species Act (Endangered).

In 2019, NOAA Fisheries also added North Atlantic right whales to our Species in the Spotlight initiative, which focuses resources on the most imperiled endangered species under NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction. While IUCN Red List categories have no direct relationship to categorizations under the MMPA or ESA, NOAA Fisheries shares the IUCN’s concern for North Atlantic right whales. We continue to use our authority under the MMPA and ESA to protect and recover the species.

Read the full release here

International conservation group designates right whales as critically endangered

July 10, 2020 — In a move that puts pressure on federal officials to do more to protect the species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature on Thursday designated North Atlantic right whales as “critically endangered” on its Red List of Threatened Species, the last classification before they’re considered extinct or “gone from the wild.”

The updated status highlights the need to protect a species that is believed to have fewer than 400 animals left, with only about 85 reproductive females, environmental advocates said. The IUCN, a leading global conservation organization, found their population declined by 15 percent between 2011 and 2018 and estimated there are only about 250 mature whales left.

“The dramatic declines of species such as the North Atlantic right whale … highlight the gravity of the extinction crisis,” Jane Smart, global director of IUCN’s biodiversity conservation group, said in a statement. “The world needs to act fast to halt species’ population declines and prevent human-driven extinctions.”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

North Atlantic right whale gains official “critically endangered” classification by IUCN

July 9, 2020 — The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s recent Red List publication has indicated that the North Atlantic right whale is now officially classified as “critically endangered.”

The classification is reserved for animals that are on the brink of extinction in the wild. Currently, its estimated that only 400 right whales remain, and of those, only one-quarter are reproductive-aged females capable of producing more calves.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Northern Right Whales Are on the Brink, and Trump Could Be Their Last Hope

July 9, 2020 — When boaters spotted a dead North Atlantic right whale off Elberon, N.J., on June 25, marine biologists quickly established the identity of the hulking gray carcass.

With only about 400 such whales left in the world, every individual is known to researchers and cataloged. This one, the six-month-old calf of whale No. 3560, had been struck several times on the head, suggesting one or possibly two vessel collisions.

On Thursday, such whales, which got their name because they float after being killed and thus were considered the “right whale” to hunt, were placed on the Red List of critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the last classification before they are gone from the wild. The task of responding will fall to an unlikely champion, President Trump, whose recent appeals for support from Maine lobstermen could clash with the task of saving the right whale.

Peter Corkeron, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium who spent nearly a decade chronicling the gruesome deaths of right whales as the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s research program for large whales, said he feared the listing would have little impact.

Read the full story at the New York Times

Worldwide slowdown in fishing unlikely to save rare species

June 30, 2020 — Commercial fishing taking place worldwide has dipped since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but scientists and conservation experts say it’s unclear if the slowdown will help endangered species of marine life recover.

Hours logged by fishermen at sea fell by nearly 10% around the world after the March 11 declaration of a pandemic, and in some hard-hit countries such as China, fishing completely stopped. The fishing decline has spurred questions about food security, ocean management and global trade.

As countries begin to resume fishing, new questions are emerging about whether an extended fishing slowdown could help rare ocean animals, such as the North Atlantic right whale. The whale numbers only about 400 and is vulnerable to fatal entanglement in fishing gear.

Less fishing could also help jeopardized fish stocks of the Mediterranean Sea, which is home to the overfished Atlantic bluefin tuna. And many rare species are vulnerable to accidental catch, called bycatch, in fishing gear.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Gov. Mills asks Trump administration to reject right whale protection proposal

June 29, 2020 — Gov. Janet Mills has asked the Trump administration to reject a petition from the Pew Charitable Trusts that proposes tight seasonal regulations for some lobster fishing areas to protect endangered right whales.

The proposal “not only fails to provide additional protections for right whales, but contrary to Pew’s assertions, it will cause significant economic impact to Maine’s iconic lobster industry,” Mills wrote in a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Pew, a national civic engagement and public affairs nonprofit, submitted a petition this month to ban traditional lobster fishing in areas where whales feed during their annual migration. The nonprofit wants alternating three-month periods when only ropeless fishing is allowed in areas including waters off Mount Desert Rock, Jordan Basin and Jeffrey’s Ledge, and year-round ropeless fishing off the coast of Nantucket.

The restrictions to protect the remaining 400 right whales would only minimally impact Maine’s $483 million lobster fishery because most fishing takes place closer to shore, Pew said.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine’s governor objects to petition requesting vertical-line prohibition

June 26, 2020 — The U.S. state of Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, has written a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross objecting to a recent petition that aims to prohibit the use of vertical lines in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries in four areas off the New England coast.

The petition was submitted by The Pew Charitable Trusts earlier this month, with the intention of protecting the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale. Right whales are one of the most endangered mammal species in the world, and entanglement with vertical lines have led to new regulation that the Maine Lobstermen’s Association has objected to.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: Green Plate Special: Eat more lobster — this is the kind of ask we really like

June 22, 2020 — Maine’s iconic lobster industry has taken its share of lumps in the past year. Stricter 2019 quotas on the herring catch drove bait prices up. A cold 2019 spring meant the bugs molted later than usual, delaying when lobstermen could bring popular soft-shell lobsters (sometimes sold as “new-shell”) to market. On Sept. 1, China raised tariffs on live, American-caught lobster by 10 percent. And throughout the winter, scientists, environmentalists and the courts demanded the lobster fishery change to better protect endangered right whales  (the population hovers at just 400). The overall lobster haul dipped by 16% between 2018 and 2019, although harvesters were buoyed to some extent by higher than normal prices.

Yarmouth resident Rebecca Spear — wife, daughter-in-law and mother of lobster fishermen — explains that when the COVID-19 crisis first hit Maine in March, she didn’t immediately panic over how the pandemic might affect the 2020 income of the lobstermen and boys in her life (her 10-year-old son, Jack, holds a student lobster and crab license). “That’s always the slow season for us,” Spear said.

But as restaurant service in Maine and across the country remains truncated leading into prime lobster-eating season, she is worried now. Selling direct to customers was a good springtime stopgap solution. Spear is grateful that Maine eaters have sought out more locally sourced food as the national food supply has struggled in response to the pandemic. She urges Mainers to continue to buy lobster early and often this summer to help keep the fleet afloat. Here’s my suggestion: buy a few extra, cook them all for dinner, and serve the leftovers with eggs for breakfast.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Pew petitions for vertical-line fishing closures off New England “to protect right whales”

June 18, 2020 — The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted a petition for rulemarking to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on 18 June urging him to take immediate action “to protect North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in federal waters off of New England.”

In a letter to Ross, Pew proposed a series of fisheries closures it says are “designed to afford the greatest protections for right whales, while minimizing the impact on fishermen.” The organization identified four areas off of New England where fisheries employ high-risk gear – such as lobster and crab traps with thick vertical ropes – and suggested that Ross designate closures during times when right whales are likely to be present.

Read the full story at Seafood Source