Saving Seafood

Right Whale Use of Southern New England Wind Energy Areas Increasing

July 30, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Right whales are increasing their use of southern New England waters, including regions slated for offshore wind energy development, according to aerial survey data collected during the last decade. Offshore wind energy installations are proposed in waters off the south coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Understanding and minimizing the potential impacts from construction noise, increased vessel traffic, and habitat alteration will be crucial to protecting and conserving this endangered species. This research supports the Administration’s goal of deploying offshore wind while protecting biodiversity and promoting ocean co-use.

The study was published July 29 in Endangered Species Research. Marine mammal researchers from NOAA Fisheries and colleagues at the New England Aquarium and the Center for Coastal Studies examined aerial survey data collected between 2011–2015 and 2017–2019. The data was collected in offshore waters including the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Wind Energy Area. The data from these two time periods were used to quantify right whale distribution, residency, demographics, and movements in the region.

“We found that right whale use of the region increased during the last decade, and since 2017 whales have been sighted there nearly every month, with large aggregations occurring during the winter and spring,” said Tim Cole, lead of the whale aerial survey team at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and a co-author of the study.

Read the full release here

Blue ticked off: the controversy over the MSC fish ‘ecolabel’

July 26, 2021 — This month, two right whales in the Gulf of St Lawrence were found entangled in fishing gear. One, a female, was first spotted entangled off Cape Cod last year, but rescuers were not able to fully free her; the other, a male, is believed to have become entangled in the Gulf.

Hunted to near extinction before a partial whaling ban in 1935, North Atlantic right whales are once more critically endangered, with only 356 left. The main threat remains human contact: entanglement in fishing gear, and ship strikes. Fatal encounters, caused in part by the whales’ migratory shift into Canada’s snow crab grounds, have soared: more than a tenth of the population died or were seriously injured between 2017 and 2021, mostly in Canada and New England.

One of the threats they face is from the growing crab and lobster fisheries. The whales migrate from their calving grounds in Florida to feed in Canada – putting them on a collision course with the pots and traps.

“We’re talking millions of lines, placed in the water every year,” says Kate O’Connell, a marine wildlife consultant for the Animal Welfare Institute. “These animals are running the gauntlet – and it’s getting harder and harder for them to survive.”

When a whale gets entangled, ropes from buoys on the surface to the seabed traps can become embedded in its skin, weighing it down and leaving it unable to swim or feed properly, leading to a “really traumatising death”, O’Connell says.

But what makes it even more concerning to conservationists is that some of the fisheries they say threaten the right whale were certified as “sustainable” by the world’s largest fisheries certification programme: the Marine Stewardship Council.

The MSC, which grants the right to use its well-known “blue tick” label on products, has grown from 315 certified fisheries in 2017 to 421, representing 14% of all global fish landings. In the last year its labelled products were worth $12bn (£9.5bn). In the absence of governments looking after our oceans, “the MSC is definitely the best we’ve got” in terms of consumer labels, according to Ruth Westcott of the environmental alliance Sustain.

Read the full story at The Guardian

Alaskan Scientists Continue Humpback Research as Whale Watching Industry Aims to Rebound

July 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Juneau, Alaska is one of the most popular whale watching tourism destinations in the world. Roughly 1.3 million tourists visited the city in 2019 via cruise ship, and more than 330,000 of those visitors participated in local whale watching trips during their port-of-call.

In 2020, cruise ships did not visit Juneau due to COVID-19, and whale watching companies lost a majority of their business. This provided a rare opportunity for scientists to study humpback whale behavior and health in the absence of vessel traffic and heavy whale watching tourism.

Heidi Pearson of the University of Alaska Southeast partnered with Shannon Atkinson of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and NOAA scientists Suzie Teerlink and John Moran to collect baseline data during this unusual time. Their research will help us understand how changes in vessel activity potentially impact whale behavior and health.

The scientists are currently in the second year of the study. Field crews from the UK’s BBC visited Juneau during last year’s field season to collect footage of the collaborative research project that they have now compiled into a featurette that is being circulated around the globe.

Read the full release here

Poll finds public supports right whale protections, as another study shows ships still ignoring them

July 26, 2021 — A new poll performed by The Pew Charitable Trusts has shown the majority of residents on the U.S. East Coast support additional protections for the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale, even as a new report by Oceana indicates that voluntary ship speed limits intended to protect the whales from vessel strikes are largely ignored.

The Pew poll found that as many as 88 percent of those polled said that it is important that the federal government protect right whales, and more than half – 53 percent – said it is very important. The poll also indicated the those polled prefer fishermen use gear that doesn’t harm whales, and that they want the government to help pay for the gear.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Report finds most ships breaking U.S. right whale speed limits

July 23, 2021 — An analysis of automated ship tracking data shows that nearly 90 percent of vessels transiting mandatory speed zones to protect endangered northern right whales are violating the speed limits, according to a new report.

The highest level of compliance — with about one-third of vessels obeying the 10-knot limit — was documented in the Off Race Point seasonal management area, near Cape Cod, Mass., where NOAA regularly announces speed restrictions to protect migrating whales.

The lowest levels of compliance — with nearly 90 percent of vessels busting the 10-knot limit — was off the coast between Wilmington, N.C., and Brunswick, Ga. That reach includes approaches to the burgeoning ports of Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga., where cargo traffic and container ship sizes are growing.

“If NOAA is serious about its mandate to save North Atlantic right whales from extinction, speed zones must be designated in the areas where whales currently are, and they must be enforced,” said Whitney Webber, campaign director at the environmental group Oceana, which compiled the analysis using Automatic Identification System data from 2017 to 2020. “Until speed zone rules are mandatory and violators held accountable, North Atlantic right whales will continue to die on NOAA’s watch.”

The AIS data comes via Global Fishing Watch, an international nonprofit organization founded by Oceana in partnership with Google and SkyTruth. That database recently yielded another report about foreign squid fishing vessels mounting possible incursions into Argentina’s exclusive economic zone.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Experts Collaborate on Mission to Document Protected Species

July 19, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Scientists from NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center recently completed the first leg of a mission to survey marine mammals and other protected species in waters off the southeast coast of the United States. They are locating, identifying, and counting marine mammals from both the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter and a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft.

The data they collect will be used to assess the abundance, distribution, ecology, and behavior of marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds throughout the U.S. Atlantic. These data are also critical for updating the Atlantic stock assessment reports required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

Usually, we conduct these marine mammal surveys annually but were not able to collect data in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The beginning of this trip has also had some challenges—two tropical storms have made for rough seas and grounded flights.

In spite of these challenges, the ship-board team has logged 325 marine mammal sightings—a single leg record for the team—since departing Newport, Rhode Island on June 12 and arriving in Charleston, South Carolina on July 3. Notable sightings included two large Clymene dolphin (Stenella clymene) sightings, a Gervais’ beaked whale (Mesoplodon europaeus) sighting, and multiple false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) sightings. Scientists were also towing a hydrophone array to collect passive acoustic data—underwater sounds from whales and dolphins. They collected 76 recordings, 16 of which were from sperm whale groups.

Read the full release here

$8.3 Million in Funding Recommended for Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration Projects

July 16, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA is recommending nearly $8.3 million in funding to continue 23 ongoing habitat restoration projects through our Community-based Restoration Program. These projects will restore habitat for coastal and marine species in 13 states and territories and provide benefits for communities and the environment. The projects will also support coastal communities that rely on healthy habitats for benefits like clean drinking water, flood and storm protection, and industries like boating, fishing, and tourism.

By reopening rivers to fish passage, reconnecting rivers to their floodplains, and reducing coastal runoff, these projects will support oysters, corals, and several fish species. They will also aid in the recovery of four NOAA Species in the Spotlight:

Recipients and their partners include nonprofits; federal, state, and local agencies; tribes; private sector businesses; and academia.

Read the full release here

Two endangered right whales entangled in fishing gear in Gulf of St. Lawrence

July 14, 2021 — A New Brunswick-based whale-rescue team says two North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are entangled in fishing gear, a dangerous situation experts say risks killing the endangered animals.

Mackie Greene, director of the Campobello Whale Rescue program, said Wednesday the group tried last week to free Snow Cone, a female who had been originally spotted entangled off Cape Cod, Mass., last spring. Greene said an American crew removed some of the rope at the time but had to call off their efforts because of bad weather, adding that the whale continued north into Canadian waters.

“She was spotted in May in the Gulf and we responded and were able to get 30 feet of rope off of the whale, but she still has rope wound in her mouth, in her baleen and some trailing lines,” he said.

Greene said his team was able to remove three pieces of rope last week, adding that the animal appears healthy and is feeding; however, he said, more rope needs to be removed. “Snow Cone has a pretty sad story,” Greene said. “She’s a female, born in 2005. The year before last she had a calf and was coming north and the calf was run down and killed.”

He says a larger, mature whale that’s also entangled in gear has been spotted about 80 kilometres northeast of Shippagan, N.B., in an area where all the right whales appear to be congregated. Unlike Snow Cone, Greene said it appears the whale likely became entangled in the Gulf — perhaps the result of fishing gear that had been lost.

Read the full story at The Toronto Star

Scientist to testify to U.S. congressional panel on salmon-killing tire chemical

July 14, 2021 — Washington State University scientist Jenifer McIntyre will testify before members of Congress on research linking a chemical found in tires to the die-off of endangered salmon.

An assistant professor at WSU’s School of the Environment, McIntyre studies urban runoff and its effects on aquatic animals, including salmon. She is one of several experts set to testify virtually Thursday, July 15, before members of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which is probing scientific evidence that a chemical found in car tires, playground surfaces, and other sources plays a role in the massive death of coho salmon.

McIntyre was part of a team of scientists, led by the University of Washington, who identified the chemical culprit: 6PPD‑quinone, a molecule related to a preservative in tires. Rain washes the chemical into streams, where it kills coho. The team’s research was published last December in Science.

Lawmakers will discuss the challenge and possible remedies Thursday, as well as how to best protect impacted endangered species.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to share this important issue with members of Congress, in order to continue our efforts to protect aquatic animals from harmful environmental pollutants,” said McIntyre, who continues to study the effects of the molecule on fish.

Read the full story at Washington State University

CALIFORNIA: Monterey Bay fishermen work to reduce chances of whale entanglements

July 13, 2021 — On a cool Thursday morning this week, Calder Deyerle powered up his Boston Whaler and headed out of Moss Landing Harbor in search of the catch of the day. But this catch had no fins or tails or claws. Deyerle was hunting crab gear.

Five or six years ago, more than 70 whales — mostly fin, blue and humpbacks — became caught in the lines that connect a surface buoy to the crab trap resting on the ocean floor. Because of a crash in the krill population, the whales came in closer to shore to feed on alternative food sources and right into the crab lines.

Lines and traps meant for Dungeness crabs can be deadly to whales that become ensnared in the equipment, often causing dehydration, infected wounds, breathing or reproduction problems and even starvation.

But efforts by Dungeness crab fishermen have dramatically reduced the number of whale entanglements. There have been none this year. The far greater threat to whales today is not from crab gear, rather from ship strikes.

Deyerle is one of nine Monterey Bay commercial fishermen who are contributing to a project called the Lost Gear Recovery Project that is coordinated by the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, which in turn is permitted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Read the full story at the Monterey Herald