Saving Seafood

MAINE: DMR submits whale rule proposal

January 8, 2020 — Nearly 10 months ago, Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher shocked Maine lobstermen with an announcement that the National Marine Fisheries Service had determined that right whale mortalities resulting from interactions with fishing gear would have to be reduced by 60 to 80 percent.

In late spring, the fisheries service proposed rules recommended by its Large Whale Take Reduction Team that would force lobstermen to reduce the number of vertical buoy lines in the water by as much as 50 percent and use weaker rope.

Those rules raised safety and practicality concerns within the fishing community and many lobstermen said they would have little or no impact on whale mortalities in the Gulf of Maine.

Last week, DMR submitted a detailed counterproposal to the federal fisheries agency that, according to Keliher, addressed those issues.

“This proposal is the result of a rigorous analysis of data combined with critically important input from industry,” Keliher said Friday. “The outcome is a plan that will not only protect right whales, but will also safeguard the lives and livelihoods of Maine fishermen.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Why Scientists Are Counting Whales from Space

January 7, 2020 — Scientists from the New England Aquarium and the Massachusetts-based engineering firm Draper are teaming up to save the whales. The researchers are weaving together a myriad of data in order to create a probability map of where whales might travel to and why. Knowing where whales go can help scientists better understand the environmental conditions that most impact the various species, reports 90.9 WBUR.

Changing water temperatures, for example, can shift where populations of krill, plankton, and fish—common food sources for whales—may go. Shipping lanes can also impact how whale populations travel: From 2010 to 2014, there were 37 reported ship strikes along the east coast of Canada and the U.S. and in the Gulf of Mexico, according to NOAA Fisheries data. Recent evidence has suggested that the ocean is getting noisier, which can stress whales and alter their behavior. (Luckily, groups like the U.S. Navy are taking note.)

In order to track these whales, the team plans to tap reliable sources of sonar, radar and satellite data to keep a watchful eye on our planet’s largest mammals. Eventually, the team hopes to input this data—collected from European Space Agency satellites to amateur radio operators—into an algorithm that will process that data and then track whales’ movements.

Read the full story at Popular Mechanics

US state of Maine moves forward with kinder, gentler whale reg recommendations

January 7, 2020 — The US state of Maine’s Department of Marine Resources (DMR) on Friday moved forward with its earlier-proposed recommendations for helping to preserve endangered North Atlantic right whales by putting all of the emphasis on federal waters.

Maine, which is responsible for the largest share by far of the United State’s North America lobster production, submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) a lengthy set of online documents.

The plan is similar to one put forth in October by the state.

Ultimately, it’ll be up to NMFS to publish a proposed rule, also taking into consideration a tougher set of recommendations shared by the US’ Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team, a NOAA advisory panel made up of fishermen, scientists, conservationists, and state and federal officials from Maine to Florida, in April 2019.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Canadian snow crabbers outraged by US lawmakers’ call for ban

January 7, 2020 — Robert Hache, director general of the Association Des Crabiers Acadiens, a trade group that represents some 115 snow crabbers in Canada’s Gulf of Saint Lawrence, has a few choice words for the four US state of Maine lawmakers who recently sent a letter to Wilbur Ross, secretary of the US Department of Commerce.

The letter calls for the president Donald Trump administration to ban the import of Canadian snow crabs, suggesting their fishing practices are more responsible for the decline of endangered North American right whales than those of Maine lobster harvesters.

“I find it so demoralizing to see public figures use fake facts or lies to simply put blame on an industry in order to support their own political interests,” Hache told Undercurrent News. “This is very saddening.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Maine Seeks to Aid Lobstermen as Federal Whale Protections Loom

January 6, 2020 — Maine is making its voice heard as a federal effort to stop right whales from dying takes shape.

On Friday, the state’s Department of Marine Resources released a plan it says protects the endangered whales and lobstermen, whom the feds say need to do more to prevent traps and lines from killing the whale.

Maine’s suggestions include having lobstermen use ropes with weak points the whales could easily break and calls for a 25% reduction in the amount of vertical trap lines.

“It’s been a really difficult process, no question about it,” said Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine’s DMR. “We spent a lot of time with the industry, we made some people happy and some people mad.”

Read the full story at NBC 10

Maine Plan Aims to Reduce Lobstering Impact on Right Whales

January 3, 2020 — Maine‘s proposal for protecting endangered right whales from entanglements in lobster gear would maintain the status quo for inshore waters where most traps are located while reducing the number of trap lines farther offshore, officials said Friday.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources submitted the proposal to the federal government, which plans to issue new rules in the spring or summer for protecting North Atlantic right whales. The whales number only about 400 and are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear.

The proposal would make no change to an inshore area that comprises more than two-thirds of state waters, while total trap lines would be reduced farther offshore.

The proposal would also set requirements for “weak” points in trap lines that would allow an entangled whale to break free and require unique color markings to differentiate Maine lobster lines from trap lines used by fishermen from other states.

The rules come at a time when lobstermen are concerned about a drop in the catch of the state’s signature seafood.

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

Maine finalizes right whale protection plan for lobster industry

January 3, 2020 — Maine has finalized a proposal to protect endangered right whales from entanglement in lobster fishing gear, but it also gives state regulators the freedom to adopt alternative protections to keep lobstermen and their regional fishing practices alive.

The heart of the state plan is similar to one panned by the lobster industry last fall – cutting the number of buoy lines that could entangle a whale by setting a minimum number of traps fished on each line and requiring the use of lines with weak points to help entangled whales break free.

New to the plan is Maine’s bid to get federal approval for flexibility to allow alternative forms of fishing restrictions in cases where the statewide application of federal whale protections would put lobstermen in physical danger or run needlessly afoul of regional fishing practices.

That flexibility is the cornerstone of Maine Department of Marine Resources’ plan, said Commissioner Pat Keliher. Careful use of alternative protections that achieve the same conservation benefit could help protect whales, fishermen and the state’s $485 million a year industry, Keliher said.

“We want to develop a process that would allow us to mix and match regulatory changes to achieve the same risk reduction for whales while taking into account fishermen safety, traditional fishing practices, and fleet diversity,” Keliher said. “It would be a blend of giving and taking that achieves the same goal.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA wins $1.6 million to help lobstermen adapt to whale rules

December 20, 2019 — NOAA Fisheries is adding an additional $1.6 million to current funding to help the New England lobster industry comply with additional protection measures for the imperiled North Atlantic right whales.

“The $1.6 million will support reducing the risk of entanglement of right whales in fishing gear while assisting the lobster fishing industry in adapting to the impacts of new measures to reduce the effects of trap/pot gear on right whales,” NOAA Fisheries said in a statement.

NOAA Fisheries said the additional funding will be dispersed with the assistance of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Further details will follow, NOAA Fisheries said.

Marine scientists say the total population of imperiled North Atlantic right whales continues to hover around 400.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NOAA Fisheries Announces Additional Funding to Support Recovery Actions for North Atlantic Right Whales

December 20, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This year, NOAA Fisheries will add an additional $1.6 million in federal funds to current funding levels to support additional recovery actions for the North Atlantic right whale. The $1.6 million will support reducing the risk of entanglement of right whales in fishing gear while assisting the lobster fishing industry in adapting to the impacts of new management measures that mitigate the effects of trap/pot gear on right whales. These funds will assist the lobster fishing industry in complying with pending regulations and help to defray costs to support fishermen broadly. NOAA Fisheries plans to work through its partner, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), to expend these funds.

The North Atlantic right whale is critically endangered and fisheries gear entanglements and vessel strikes are among the leading causes of mortalities in both the U.S. and Canada. NOAA Fisheries and our partners are dedicated to conserving and rebuilding the North Atlantic right whale population.

For more information see our webstory.

Maine Lobstermen Skeptical Of Proposal To Tie ‘Whale-Safe’ Seafood Label To Use Of New Fishing Gear

December 17, 2019 — A movement is emerging among conservation groups to create a “whale-safe” seal of approval for lobster caught with new types of gear designed to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. But it could be a tough sell in Maine, where some say the iconic fishery is already sustainable.

A specific “whale-friendly” or even “whale-safe” brand would likely apply to lobster harvested from traps with weak, breakaway rope or remote-controlled “ropeless” gear systems.

Scientists and conservationists say such gear changes, while still in the developmental stage, could reduce or even eliminate the risk that whales will be injured or killed by entanglements.

“That’s really important, that fishermen willing to test this gear, and certainly those fishermen fishing with ropeless gear should be rewarded,” says Erica Fuller, a lawyer at the Conservation Law Foundation, one of several organizations suing the federal government for stronger protections of the roughly 400 North Atlantic right whales remaining on the planet.

Read the full story at Maine Public