Saving Seafood

Baleen Whales Have Changed Their Distribution in the Western North Atlantic

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Researchers have been using passive acoustic recordings of whale calls to track their movements. They have found that four of the six baleen whale species found in the western North Atlantic Ocean — humpback, sei, fin and blue whales — have changed their distribution patterns in the past decade. The recordings were made over 10 years by devices moored to the seafloor at nearly 300 locations from the Caribbean Sea to western Greenland.

“All four whale species were present in waters from the southeast U.S. to Greenland, with humpbacks also present in the Caribbean Sea,” said Genevieve Davis, a senior acoustician at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and lead author of the study. “These four species were detected throughout all the regions in the winter, suggesting that baleen whales are widely distributed during these months. Humpback, sei, fin, and blue whales also showed significant changes in where they were detected between the two time periods considered in this study: before and after 2010.”

A large group of federal, state and academic researchers from the United States and Canada conducted the study, published in Global Change Biology. It is the first to show the occurrence of these four species across the western North Atlantic Ocean over long time spans and at a large spatial scale. The study also demonstrates how whale distributions have changed over time, and in particular since 2010.

Read the full release here

New technology promises to save the whales by reducing the need for crab fishing lines.

July 16, 2020 — After a slightly better year in 2017, the number of whales getting entangled in fishing gear has gone back up, according to a new report from the National Marine Fisheries Service. Researchers confirmed 105 whale entanglements nationwide in 2018, the latest year for which data is available, noting the number is “much higher” than average.

These findings come as a possible solution emerges out of a collaboration being led by Monterey Bay conservationists, fishermen and fishing gear designers.

On the Pacific coast, whales pass through stretches of ocean that are important for Dungeness crab fishing and they sometimes get caught in lines connecting traps on the ocean floor to buoys at the surface. Technology that is under development would all but eliminate vertical lines and buoys. Using ropeless or pop-up innovations, these new crab traps would sit idly on the ocean floor until receiving an acoustic signal from the fisherman. Only then would the trap release a rope and buoy to the surface.

“We are working with fishermen to see what works and what doesn’t and what allows the fisherman to survive economically,” says Geoff Shester, a Monterey-based scientist with nonprofit Oceana. “The Monterey Bay is the epicenter of the whale entanglement issue.”

Read the full story at Monterey County Now

Stanford lab develops high-tech tools to study whales in the wild

July 15, 2020 — Scanning the airwaves over Monterey Bay with a hand-held antenna, Stanford University researchers listen for blue whales – or, more precisely, they listen for the suction tags they’ve stuck on blue whales. The first beep sounds and the captain whips the boat on course, following the quickening signal to find the surfacing giant. The three-person crew must reach the animal before it disappears under the ocean, hidden from sight, radar and study for another 10 minutes. [Note: This research was conducted prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and has been on hold in accordance with current guidance regarding research operations.]

The crew in this fast-paced chase hails from the lab of Jeremy Goldbogen, assistant professor of biology in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station. In the Monterey Bay and around the world, Goldbogen and his team employ drones, sound-based mapping equipment, and sensor-packed tags to demystify the lives and biology of rorqual whales – large whales that feed by lunging at groups of prey and filtering water through baleen plates. These include humpback, minke, fin and of course blue whales, which at nearly 100-feet long are the largest creatures known to have ever lived.

“The largest animals of all time can’t be in a laboratory in a building, so we’ve been developing technology that pushes the envelope in terms of understanding how animals operate in the open ocean,” said Goldbogen.

Read the full story at Stanford News

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

Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup online meeting August 3-4, 2020

July 8, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council)  Ad Hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup (Workgroup) will meet online, and this meeting will be open to the public.  The online meeting will be held Monday, August 3 through Tuesday, August 4, 2020.   The meeting will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on August 3.  The meeting will continue August 4 at 9 a.m. (PDT) and will end at 5 p.m.  The meeting times are an estimate; and will adjourn when business for the day is complete.

Please see the SRKW Workgroup online meeting notice on the Council’s website for the purpose of the meeting and participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Robin Ehlke at 503-820-2410; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Attention Crabbers: Whales spotted off Oregon Coast

July 8, 2020 — The following was released by the West Coast Seafood Processors Association:

Due to recent sightings of humpback whale aggregations on the inshore whale survey transects between Newport and North Bend and fishermen’s reports of humpbacks in the 25- to 50-fathom area between Seal Rock and Coos Bay, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is recommending all gear be moved to shallower water, preferably inside 25 fathoms.

Already, Oregon crab gear from this year’s fishing season was found in June on a dead juvenile humpback whale off of Point Reyes, Calif.

It is in the industry’s best interest to avoid whale entanglements.

Fishermen should also observe best practices to avoid whales, especially during these months of higher ESA-listed humpback and blue whales off Oregon. Those best practices include:

  • Removing fishing gear not actively tended;
  • Use the minimum amount of scope necessary to compensate for tides, currents and weather;
  • Remove excess lines floating at the surface;
  • Maintain gear to ensure lines and buoys are in good working condition and clearly marked;
  • Remove all crab pots from the ocean by August 14;
  • Bring derelict gear to shore in-season; and
  • Consider participating in the post-season derelict gear program.

The COVID-19 Slowdown Will Show Whether Quieter Seas Help Killer Whales

June 30, 2020 — Deborah Giles and her dog are on a mad search for floating poop. Killer whale poop, to be precise.

Giles, a killer whale biologist at the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology, is cruising the Strait of Juan De Fuca, a roughly 15-mile-wide inlet between Canada’s Vancouver Island and Washington state. The coastal waterway is a hotspot for migrating killer whales. Lately, the waters have been calmer and quieter because of boating and border restrictions enacted in the wake of COVID-19. That is why Giles has brought her scat-tracking dog, Eba, who will sniff the air as the boat cruises then start licking her lips, whining, and barking as they get closer to killer whale excrement.

These buoyant, information-rich fecal samples ready for collection. Giles wants to know if the hushed waters are helping whales relax. “It’s just such a novel situation where we just don’t have people going out on their boats,” she says. “It’s markedly different.”

Read the full story at Smithsonian Magazine

California Plans to Protect Whales From Crab Traps Rankle All Sides

June 30, 2020 — At a public hearing Monday on proposed regulations for managing whale and sea turtle entanglements in commercial crab fishing gear on California’s coast, one thing was clear: No one’s happy.

Stakeholders on both sides of the aisle had complaints — environmentalists don’t think the protections go far enough, while industry groups say the regulations threaten the economic viability of the crab fishing industry.

Set to take effect Nov. 1, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP) will serve as the primary mechanism for mitigating entanglement risk to humpback and blue whales and leatherback sea turtles whose populations are endangered and could suffer additional casualties due to getting caught in Dungeness crab fishing gear.

The regulation would replace the interim authority given to the director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife under Senate Bill 1309, a 2018 law which gave the director the ability to restrict take of Dungeness crab in response to significant risk of marine life entanglement.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service