Saving Seafood

Critically endangered North Atlantic right whale population gets a boost: 2 newborns spotted off US coast

December 8, 2020 — Biologists from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida knew immediately what they were seeing: It was a North Atlantic right whale calf.

They couldn’t help but be ecstatic.

“Soon enough, the team knew the mother would surface for a breath of air and the calving season would have the first live mother-calf right whale pair,” said Melanie White, a research biologist who serves as the aquarium’s North Atlantic Right Whale Conservation Project Manager.

The calf, found swimming on Dec. 4 with a first-time mom known as Chiminea off the coast of Cumberland Island in Georgia, was the first of two live calves found over the past week, the National Marine Fisheries Service tweeted Monday.

The second, born to 16 year-old Millepede, was spotted Monday while swimming with bottlenose dolphins off Vilano Beach in Florida.

Read the full story at USA Today

Online ‘Entangled’ film screening and panel discussion presented by University of Maine

December 7, 2020 — The University of Maine Hutchinson Center will host a free online screening of award-winning documentary “Entangled” at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11. The film will be introduced by filmmaker David Abel and followed by a discussion featuring a panel of researchers and industry experts.

The film will be shown online and the discussion will take place via Zoom. There is no cost to participate. To register, visit the Hutchinson Center website.

“Entangled” is an award-winning, feature-length film (75 minutes) about how climate change has accelerated a collision between one of the world’s most endangered species, North America’s most valuable fishery, and a federal agency mandated to protect both. The film chronicles the efforts to protect North Atlantic right whales from extinction, the impacts of those efforts on the lobster industry, and how regulators have struggled to balance the vying interests. Directed by David Abel and Andy Laub — makers of “Lobster War” and “Sacred Cod,” “Entangled” won a 2020 Jackson Wild Media Award, nature films’ equivalent to the Oscars. It also won Best Conservation Film at the Mystic Film Festival.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Reinstated: Slow Speed Zone Southeast of Atlantic City to Protect Right Whales

December 7, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is reinstating a Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction zone), southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey

This Slow Zone was in effect November 20-December 5, when the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute acoustic monitoring buoy detected right whales southeast of Atlantic City. The buoy detected right whales again on December 7.

Mariners, please go around this area or go slow (10 knots or less) inside this area where right whales have been detected.

Southeast of Atlantic City Slow Zone is in effect through December 22 for waters bounded by:

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

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

Read the full release here

GIB CHASE: Right whale, wrong decisions

December 4, 2020 — There is no second chance with extinction. So why is it taking the National Marine Fisheries Service so long to implement protective measures for the endangered North Atlantic right whale?

The species was considered endangered in 1970, three years before the Endangered Species Act was legislated. For the past 50 years it has been a constant struggle to fulfill the obligations of this law and provide adequate protection for its recovery. Four years ago, NOAA declared the drastic increase in right whale deaths an “unusual mortality event” and supposedly a concentrated effort was to be made to reverse the trend and save the species. We’re still waiting. The act is clear on what needs to be done, but decisions being made do not uphold the law.

Instead of carrying out its congressional legislative mandate, the Fisheries Service has repeatedly authorized actions harmful to continued existence of the whale. As a result, we have witnessed lawsuits and legal complaints against the agency for not doing the job entrusted to it. Among the claims made are: making false and misleading statements, omitting scientific research findings and recommendations from its own staff, falsely implying a consensus of scientists that reopening of a restricted fishing area wouldn’t adversely affect the species, refusing to close certain areas to reduce entanglements, controlling information being released to the public and, most importantly, granting priority to the lobster fishery responsible for the majority of whale deaths. Downplaying effects of fishery activities on the species, inadequately addressing ship strikes and failure to notify ships to reduce their speed are other accusations. These actions violate the legal requirements of the Endangered Species Act and reflect poorly on the agency, its mission, integrity and employees.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Conservation groups file petition calling for gear ban to protect right whales

December 2, 2020 — Multiple conservation and wildlife protection groups have filed a petition with the National Marine Fisheries Service calling for new rulemaking that includes the prohibition of vertical lines in certain areas.

The petition, submitted 2 December, calls for emergency regulations prohibiting the use of trap/pot and gillnet fishing using static vertical lines in certain areas, and the expansion of two existing closures both “geographically and temporally.” The closures would take place off of Southern New England, and would exempt fishing that uses newer ropeless technologies.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Extended: Slow Speed Zone Southeast of New York City to Protect Right Whales

November 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In Effect Through December 15

NOAA Fisheries is extending a Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction zone), southeast of New York City.

This Slow Zone was first triggered on November 17, when the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute acoustic monitoring buoy detected right whales in the New York Bight, New York. The buoy detected right whales again on November 30.

Mariners, please go around this areas or go slow (10 knots or less) inside this area where right whales have been detected.

Southeast of New York City Slow Zone is in effect through December 15.

40 41 N
40 01 N
073 03 W
073 55 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones and dynamic management areas currently in effect.

Read the full release here

A dead right whale calf found on North Carolina shore bodes ill for species birth rate, according to experts

November 25, 2020 — Scientists with National Marine Fisheries Service found a North Atlantic right whale calf dead on Friday, Nov. 20, at Cape Lookout National Park in North Carolina, boding ill for the birth rate of a critically endangered species.

The newborn likely died during birth or very soon after, according to a government report issued Monday.

The species’ birth and death rates are under extended scrutiny with an overall population decline to under 400 animals, with a possible threat of extinction.

Right whales visit Cape Cod Bay in the late winter and early spring as part of their annual migratory pattern along the Atlantic coastline from Florida to Canada. The calving season for the whales takes place in the winter off Florida and Georgia.

Read the full story at Wicked Local

First known right whale calf of season washes up dead in North Carolina

November 24, 2020 — The hopes for the North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species, grew dimmer Friday as a calf washed ashore dead on a barrier island off of North Carolina, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

It was the first documented newborn of the calving season, and the service says every new birth is crucial to the species avoiding extinction.

The service estimated there were just 366 of the whales alive in January 2019, including just 94 breeding females, making them one of the rarest mammals in the world. Scientists at the Fisheries Service told the Globe in October that as little as one death per year threatens the survival of the species.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

U.S. investing $500,000 to help reduce threats to North Atlantic right whales

November 23, 2020 — There has been a recent spray of positive news for the beleaguered right whale.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in the United States announced nearly $500,000 in investments to help reduce threats to the North Atlantic right whales and other marine life off the coast of New England.

NFWF said in a release that it is working in partnership with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Shell to provide funding to support gear advancement and to improve the region’s ability to transition to on-call gear that does not require a buoy-line.

Marine animals such as right whales often become entangled in lines used to mark the location of fishing nets or traps in the ocean.

Innovative technology can offer a viable alternative to track gear while reducing risks to whales.

Read the full story at SaltWire

Slow Speed Zone Southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey to Protect Right Whales

November 20, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In Effect Through December 5

NOAA Fisheries is triggering a Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction zone), southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

This Slow Zone was triggered on November 20, 2020, when the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute acoustic monitoring buoy detected right whales in the area.

Mariners, please go around this areas or go slow (10 knots or less) inside this area where right whales have been detected.

Southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey

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

Other Slow Speed Zones

Southeast of New York City Slow Zone is in effect through December 2

40 41 N
40 01 N
073 03 W
073 55 W

South of Nantucket, MA DMA  is in effect through November 30

40 59 N
40 23 N
069 05 W
069 52 W

Active Seasonal Management Areas November 1- April 30

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

  • Block Island Sound
  • Ports of New York/New Jersey
  • Entrance to the Delaware Bay
    (Ports of Philadelphia and Wilmington)
  • Entrance to the Chesapeake Bay
    (Ports of Hampton Roads and Baltimore)
  • Ports of Morehead City and Beaufort, NC
  • Within a continuous area 20-nm from shore between Wilmington, North Carolina, to Brunswick, Georgia.

Read the full release here