Saving Seafood

Scientists: New lobster fishing technology could save whales

February 20, 2018 — FALMOUTH, Mass. — Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are urging New England lobstermen to begin using new technology to help prevent the deaths of rare right whales.

The Boston Globe reports scientists from the institution recently met with fishermen to push for the use of traps that can be brought to the surface using radio signals that can inflate bags or send lines to the surface, rather than relying on ropes connected to buoys.

Scientists say that over the past year, at least 18 right whales have died, many after becoming entangled in the ropes. They say there are just 450 of the whales left in the world and just 100 breeding females.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WTOP

 

Head of Maine’s largest commercial fishing advocacy group to retire after 27 years

February 20, 2018 — David Cousens, the president of Maine Lobstermen’s Association since 1991, has decided to step down from the advocacy group.

“I’ve been doing it for so long, it’s time for the younger generation to step up,” the South Thomaston lobsterman said Thursday. “I’m retiring from the political [stuff].”

Cousens says he officially will step down at the MLA annual meeting, which will be held Friday, March 2 as part of the annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport.

Cousens, 60, said he wants more time to focus on lobster fishing, spare time to spend with his first grandchild who is expected to be born soon, and less time on the road driving to fishery management gatherings throughout the Northeast.

“I burned out I don’t know how many trucks,” said Cousens, adding he drives between 25,000 and 30,000 miles each year just going to meetings.

He also said someone else should take the lead in addressing what has turned into the dominant factor that likely will shape Maine’s $500 million lobster fishery for years to come: whale conservation.

As Maine’s lobster fishery has changed in recent decades, with many fishermen going further offshore and using more durable rope and multi-trap trawls, it also has faced increased scrutiny from regulators and conservationists who say whales are increasingly at risk of entanglements. In 2009 and again in 2014, lobstermen were required to change how they fish in order to reduce the threat of entanglement to whales, which are protected by federal law.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

To protect right whales, scientists propose major changes for lobstermen

February 20, 2018 — WOODS HOLE, Mass. — Without prompt action to reduce entanglements in fishing lines, North Atlantic right whales could disappear from the planet over the next two decades, scientists say.

In response, scientists here on Cape Cod are proposing a novel way to save the species — one that many New England lobstermen fear could destroy their livelihoods.

At a recent meeting with a host of skeptical lobstermen, scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution presented the concept of ropeless fishing, a nascent technology that eliminates the need for the long, taut ropes that extend from millions of traps at the bottom of the ocean to their buoys at the surface. These ropes have killed many of the docile mammals.

“I want to see a profitable, sustainable lobster industry that’s not abusive to the animals,” said Michael Moore, director of the Marine Mammal Center at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “But what’s happening now isn’t working. We’re painfully and inexorably squeezing the life out of these animals.”

Over the past year, at least 18 right whales have died — a grave blow to a species with only about 450 left in the world and just 100 breeding females. Scientists fear they’re not reproducing fast enough and could face extinction as soon as 2040.

The problem, Moore and his colleagues say, is that most fatalities appear to be the result of right whales becoming entangled in fishing lines. In a federal survey of right whale deaths between 2010 and 2014, scientists found that 82 percent died as a result of entanglements. The rest died from ship strikes.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

Local group seeks lawsuit to aid right whales

February 9, 2018 — After a year of major losses for North Atlantic right whales, a local environmental advocacy group filed a federal lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service Thursday, arguing that the agency should do more to protect the critically endangered mammals.

Over the past year, 18 right whales have died — a grave blow to a species with only about 450 left in the world. Scientists fear they’re not reproducing fast enough and could face extinction as soon as 2040.

In response, federal regulators declared an “unusual mortality event,” triggering an investigation into the deaths and bringing more resources to protect the whales.

But lawyers at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, which filed the suit, argued that the agency should be doing more.

“Regulators are not just morally mandated to act . . . they are also legally required to ensure fishing efforts do not cause harm to these animals,” said Emily Green, an attorney at the foundation.

Green noted that the vast majority of right whale deaths have been attributed to entanglements in fishing gear, especially the lines that connect surface buoys to lobster traps.

“Tragically, chronic entanglement is a source of extreme stress, pain, and suffering for right whales, and can interfere with eating, moving, and reproducing,” Green said. “And we know that entanglement can cause long-term adverse health impacts, even for whales that manage to escape the ropes.”

Officials at the National Marine Fisheries Service declined to comment.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

Hope, but no calves, spotted as right whales return to Georgia waters

February 5, 2018 — They call her Halo — the right whale was born to another documented calving female, Loligo, in 2005, and was last seen in 2016. That was until staff with the Sea to Shore Alliance spotted her Wednesday near Little St. Simons Island. She, and her companion, are the first right whales seen off the coast of Georgia this calving season, which typically is from November to April.

“There was an adult female spotted that has had calved before — or has had a calf before — and so we’re hoping that she’s pregnant and we’ll have a calf in the upcoming days or weeks,” said Clay George, who heads up the state Department of Natural Resources’ right whale efforts. “There was another whale seen with her that was large and appeared to be an adult or a juvenile, but it was not a calf that was born this year. So, we are hoping that perhaps it was also an adult female and may be pregnant also.”

There has also been action in the Gulf of Mexico this year.

“My understanding, from talking to colleagues that work for the state of Florida, that at least two of the sightings (in the gulf) have been confirmed to be a right whale, and the photos suggest that it may have been the same individual whale was seen in both locations, and if so, it appears to be a 1-year-old whale that was born last year,” George said. “So, those three whales are the only whales that have been seen south of Cape Hatteras, N.C.”

There is more than a little amount of worry among whale researchers and experts that the world could be watching the extinction of right whales, considering births are not keeping up with deaths — especially with human-influenced mortality from whales becoming entangled in heavy fishing gear used for lobsters and snow crabs further north.

Read the full story at the Brunswick News

 

Attorneys general urge offshore drilling plan’s cancellation

February 2, 2018 — The top lawyers for a dozen coastal states want the U.S. Interior Department to cancel the Trump administration’s plan to expand offshore drilling, warning it threatens their maritime economies and natural resources.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and her fellow attorneys general, all Democrats, wrote Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday about his agency’s proposed five-year oil and gas leasing plan that opens new ocean waters.

“Not only does this irresponsible and careless plan put our state’s jobs and environment at risk, but it shows utter disregard for the will and voices of thousands of local businesses and fishing families,” said Healey in a prepared statement. “My colleagues and I will continue to fight this plan.”

Healey first announced her opposition to the plan in an August 2017 letter to Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The Northeast Seafood Coalition and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association agreed with her that the Interior Department’s plan to expand offshore drilling threatens Massachusetts’ $7.3 billion commercial fishing industry — the third largest in the country — and more than 240,000 jobs in the state.

The plan also could devastate the state’s robust recreation and tourism industries, according to Healey, as well harm the state’s coastal environment and protected endangered species, including the Northern Right Whale, which feeds in the waters off of Cape Cod and Nantucket, according to the comment letter. There are only about 460 critically endangered Northern Right Whales remaining worldwide.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

 

NOAA: New Voluntary Right Whale Speed Restriction Zone

January 31, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces that a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area – DMA) has been established 54 nautical miles east-southeast of Virginia beach, Virginia (see map below) to protect an aggregation of 3 right whales sighted in this area on January 26, 2018.

Mariners: Please route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

East-Southeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia DMA through February 10, 2018
36 53 N
36 14 N
075 18W
074 29 W

This DMA in addition to the previously annouced DMAs announced on January 25 off Virginia and January 23 south of Nantucket.

Please report all right whale sightings to 866-755-NOAA (6622).

Right Whales in Crisis

The year 2017 was devastating for North Atlantic right whales, which suffered a loss of 17 whales–about 4 percent of their population–an alarming number for such a critically endangered species with a population currently estimated at about 450 animals.

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.

On January 22, the first right whale mortality of 2018 was spotted off the Virginia coast.

More Info

Recent right whale sightings

Download the Whale Alert app for iPad and iPhone

Acoustic detections in Cape Cod Bay and the Boston TSS

Send a blank message to receive a return email listing all current U.S. DMAs and SMAs.

Details and graphics of all ship strike management zones currently in effect.

Reminder: Approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards in a violation of federal and state law.

Learn more about NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region by visiting their site here.

 

Right whale death off Virginia coast adds to concern about species’ demise

January 30, 2018 — The death of a right whale, spotted floating off the Virginia Beach coast last week, has drawn wide attention to a species considered one of the most imperiled of marine mammals.

The 10-year-old juvenile female is believed to have become entangled in fishing gear, and its death was the first of 2018 among North Atlantic right whales. The 39-foot whale was buried at Sandbridge’s Little Island Park beach after a necropsy Sunday involving experts from six institutions from Massachusetts to Florida.

Only about 450 of the whales are believed to exist after at least 17 deaths last year, and so far this winter no newborns have been spotted in the calving grounds off Florida and Georgia.

That has added to concern that the species’ demise might be accelerating. Some scientists have predicted that North Atlantic right whales could become extinct this century.

Earlier this month, the Center for Biological Diversity and two animal welfare groups sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its parent agency, claiming that they’re not enforcing laws and regulations meant to protect the whales from entanglement in lines for lobster traps and other fishing gear.

Jennifer Goebel, a spokeswoman for NOAA Fisheries, said the whale found dead near the North Carolina border was wrapped in line in a way that suggested it had been alive when it encountered the gear. She said officials will try to identify the line and who had deployed it.

Read the full story at the Virginian-Pilot 

 

Susan Larsen: What’s causing right whale decline?

January 30, 2018 — There is no argument that the North Atlantic Right Whale is in dire straits. Dr. Mark Baumgartner, a biologist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, gave a compelling presentation on “The Plight of the Right Whale” this past Tuesday evening, Jan. 23, at the Vineyard Gazette office. Since it was advertised, it was well attended.

One point of interest was that the right whales were making a healthy comeback, a two-decade period of modest annual growth; the population rebounded from 270 living whales in 1992 to 483 in 2010. From 2010, the numbers began to decline rapidly, with 2017 being a particularly devastating year, a loss of 17 whales. Dr. Baumgartner stressed the main focus was on whale entanglements with snow crab and lobster gear, and the urgent measures needed to be taken immediately within the fishery. Massachusetts fishermen are leading the way with break away links at the base of surface buoys (to 600lbs in 2001), sink rope (mandated in 2003), gear reductions and seasonal gear restrictions in Cape Cod Bay. He also touched on ship strikes as being a cause of death. However, the Marine Mammal Commission stated on their website, “other potential threats include spills of hazardous substances from ships or other sources, and noise from ships and industrial activities.”

But what Dr. Baumgartner could not explain was the scarcity of food that these leviathans need to feed on and their low birth rate. He showed the audience slides on the Calanus finmarchicus, known as copepods and remarked that this type plankton, sought after by these whales, are basically comprised of fat, or as Dr. Baumgartner called them “buttersticks.” Each adult whale needs to consume between 1,000-2,000 a day to remain healthy. The birth rate has dropped 40 percent from 2010-2016 and all five calves that were born in 2017 were to older mothers. “Since about 2011, we’re not seeing those sub-adults and juveniles in Florida and the question is, well, where are they?” asks Jim Hain, senior scientist at Associated Scientist at Woods Hole. Scott Kraus, a marine mammalogist from the New England Aquarium in Boston says, “Females are having young just every 9 years or more, compared with every 3 years in the 1980’s.”

Perhaps the decline is linked to the environmental disaster on April 20, 2010, the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. From April 20, 2010, to July 15, 2010, more than 200 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf followed by another one million gallons of Corexit, a dispersant mixture of solvents and surfactants that break down the oil into tiny droplets. It is documented that for 3 months, marine microorganisms have ingested these toxins, which are carried along the Gulf Stream, a strong underwater current that flows through the Gulf of Mexico, skirts around Florida, flowing between Cuba and up the Eastern seaboard. Since the right whale gives birth off the coasts of Georgia and Florida, could these toxic chemicals be part of their decline?  “The chemicals in the oil product that move up through the food web are a great concern for us,” said Teri Rowles, coordinator of NOAA’s marine-mammal health and stranding response program. It is also documented that female mammals including humans who have been in contact with these toxins have suffered from irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, miscarriages and stillborns, along with premature aging and other debilitating side effects. John Pierce Wise Sr., co-author of the 2014 study and head of the Wise laboratory of Environment and Genetic Toxicology at the University of Southern Maine says, “To put it simply, after a sudden insult like an oil spill, once it’s over, it takes a long time for the population effects to fully show themselves.” This same article states “research has shown that the calves of other baleen whales (other than Bryde’s whale) may be particularly vulnerable to toxins that build in their tissues.”

A letter dated Aug. 17, 2017, from the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General in “Reference for information and comments of the 2019-2024 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program,” refers to the Deepwater Horizon disaster and its “harm to coastal communities and marine environment” and “long ranging impacts on marine mammals. The impacts on sea turtles could span the Atlantic.” The letter also states, “from 2010 through September 2016, there were 43 significant oil spills.”

In an article dated Dec. 5, 2017, ecologist Peter Corkeron of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Center in Woods Hole at the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium’s annual meeting, “They’re (female right whales) dying too young, and they’re not having calves often enough.” This study found the females are struggling to reproduce. Dr. Baumgartner is the president of the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

Read the full letter at the Martha’s Vineyard-Times 

 

Canadians Implement New Crab Fishing Rules to Protect Endangered Right Whales

January 29, 2018 — HYANNIS, Mass. — Canadian Fisheries officials recently announced a handful of new rules for snow crab fishermen to protect critical endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglement.

The regulations include reducing the amount of rope allowed to float on the surface.

The new rules are a result of at least 17 right whale deaths last year, many of which were in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Right whales are the most endangered marine mammal in the world with an estimated population around 450.

Charles “Stormy” Mayo with the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown gave kudos to the Canadian officials for being proactive this year.

“It’s a shame we didn’t know where the whales were last year so they could have taken action earlier,” Mayo said.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com