April 24, 2020 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced an early closure to the Dungeness crab fishery south of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to protect whales and sea turtles from being entangled in fishing gear.
According to the official declaration, the decision co close the fishery on 15 May was made to protect humpback whales, whose migratory path is through the central management area of the fishery.
April 24, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries announces an extension to a previously established voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area or DMA) east of Boston.
This DMA was originally triggered based on an April 9, 2020, sighting of an aggregation of right whales from a Boston-area beach by private citizens. On April 24, an aggregation of right whales was observed Northeast of Boston, MA.
Mariners, please go around this areas or go slow (10 knots or less) inside this area where groups of right whales have been sighted.
East of Boston DMA is in effect through May 9, 2020.
42 47 N
42 05 N
70 26W
71 23W
Active Seasonal Management Areas (SMAs)
A mandatory speed restriction of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) is in effect in the following areas:
Mid-Atlantic: November 1-April 30
Cape Cod Bay: January 1-May 15
Off Race Point: March 1-April 30
Great South Channel: April 1 – July 31
More info on Seasonal Management Areas
Right Whales Are Migrating
North Atlantic right whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. NOAA is cautioning boaters and fishermen to give these endangered whales plenty of room. We are also asking all fishermen to be vigilant when maneuvering to avoid accidental collisions with whales and remove unused gear from the ocean to help avoid entanglements. Commercial fishermen should use vertical lines with required markings, weak links, and breaking strengths.
Right Whales in Trouble
North Atlantic right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Scientists estimate there are only about 400 remaining, making them one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.
North Atlantic right whales are NOAA Fisheries’ newest Species in the Spotlight. This initiative is a concerted, agency-wide effort to spotlight and save marine species that are among the most at risk of extinction in the near future.
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.
More Information
Find out more about our right whale conservation efforts and the researchers behind those efforts.
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 is a violation of federal and state law.
April 24, 2020 — Commercial fishermen are protesting an order by California wildlife authorities to close the Dungeness crab fishery in mid-May to protect whales and sea turtles from becoming entangled in fishing gear.
There have been no confirmed interactions between commercial Dungeness crab gear and any whales during the current crab season, which began in December, Ben Platt, president of the Crescent City-based California Coast Crab Association, said in a statement.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham on Wednesday ordered the fishery to close on May 15 for the remainder of the season south of the Sonoma-Mendocino county line, which is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of San Francisco.
Acknowledging challenges facing the commercial fishing industry during the coronavirus pandemic, the department said the decision “provides additional time on the water while balancing the need to protect whales and turtles.”
April 22, 2020 — It was December 2000, and both houses of Congress were itching to go home. They just needed to wrap up the budget — the new fiscal year was already 10 weeks old. At last, the House of Representatives announced that agreement had been reached.
There was only one problem. The Clinton administration was proposing restrictions on the billion-dollar Bering Sea pollock fishery, and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska, was having none of it.
“The fishing limits,” he said, reportedly pounding on his desk, “will put a considerable number of people out of work. Federal control of these magnificent fisheries is not going to be approved by this senator.”
As the man who controlled the purse strings, Stevens, an iconic World War II veteran known to Alaskans as “Uncle Ted,” was arguably the country’s most powerful senator and couldn’t be ignored.
April 14, 2020 — The right whale protection lawsuit winding its way through the federal courts for two years has often been called the “wild card” in the battle between environmental groups trying to save the whale from extinction and lobstermen trying to protect their way of life.
Last week, a federal judge played that card, concluding the National Marine Fisheries Service had violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to fully document the U.S. lobster fishery’s harmful impact on right whales. The play leaves state and industry officials scrambling to figure out their next move.
“It’s hard to predict how lawsuits will impact future whale rules,” Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher wrote to fishermen on Friday. “Many of you have called or emailed asking about the timing and impacts of this decision. At this time they are still unknown, but may come very quickly.”
The agency is reviewing last week’s ruling to determine what it may mean for Maine’s $485-million-a year lobster industry and what its next steps should be, Keliher said. For now, the Maine fishery remains open to those willing to brave rough offshore waters and pandemic-gutted markets.
April 13, 2020 — U.S. District Judge James Boasberg filed a 20-page order Thursday, April 9, declaring the American lobster fishery violates the Endangered Species Act.
The federal lawsuit challenged a biological opinion filed by NMFS in 2014 stating that the American lobster fishery “may adversely affect, but is not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence of North Atlantic right whales.”
The judge ruled against NMFS, noting that the agency failed to include an “incidental take statement.” That failure, the judge declared, renders the biological opinion illegal under the Endangered Species Act. The suit — filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation and several other environmental groups — is similar to the California Dungeness crab lawsuit (led by the Center for Biological Diversity) which also claimed the fishery violated the ESA. The finding there forced the crab fishery to file for an incidental take permit, a process that can take years, and negotiate with the plaintiffs on whether there will be fishing seasons in the interim and what those opening and closing parameters will be.
April 13, 2020 — A Maine lobster fishing trade group said Monday it will fight for the future of the fishery in court in the wake of a judge’s ruling that the federal government hasn’t done enough to protect rare whales.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled last week that the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to protect North Atlantic right whales by understating lobster fishing’s ability to kill the whales via entanglement in ropes. The ruling stated a remedy will come in the future, and members of the U.S. lobster industry have said they’re concerned that could mean new fishing restrictions.
Maine Lobstermen’s Association executive director Patrice McCarron said Monday the court has only heard from environmental groups and the federal government so far in the case. She said the group will make sure the judge will “consider evidence about what happens on the water to protect whales.”
April 10, 2020 — A federal judge ruled Thursday that federal fisheries regulators are illegally allowing lobster traps that pose a threat to the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
U.S. District Judge James Boasburg says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration violated the Endangered Species Act by authorizing the lobster fishery without appropriate attention to its impact on the whales.
Specifically, he faults the feds for failing to produce an assessment of the potential that whales will be entangled in lobster trap rope and face injury and death.
April 10, 2020 — The National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Endangered Species Act by not properly reporting the lobster industry’s harmful impacts on the North Atlantic right whale, which it knew to be more than three times what the dwindling species could sustain, according to a federal judge.
In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg accused the service of failing to follow the letter of the landmark environmental law because it would have meant the fishery, which rakes in millions of lobster and dollars each year, would not be able to proceed.
“The service and the statute pass each other like ships in the night,” Boasberg wrote in his 20-page ruling.
The decision caught the Maine Department of Marine Resources, which regulates Maine’s $485 million-a-year lobster fishery, and the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the industry’s largest trade association, off guard. Both agency and association officials said they needed time to digest the ruling before commenting.
April 10, 2020 — A judge has ruled the federal government failed to adequately protect endangered whales from lobster fishing activities, sending the industry and regulators scrambling to figure out what the future holds for one of America’s most lucrative marine industries.
Environmental groups sued the U.S. government claiming regulators’ failure to protect the North Atlantic right whale from harm was a violation of the Endangered Species Act. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled Thursday that the National Marine Fisheries Service did just that by understating lobster fishing’s ability to kill the whales via entanglement in ropes.
Boasberg’s ruling states the service found the “American lobster fishery had the potential to harm the North Atlantic right whale at more than three times the sustainable rate,” but did not take appropriate action about that risk. A remedy will come in the future, the ruling states.
Environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, which filed the lawsuit, heralded the ruling as a victory in the fight to protect the whales, which number only about 400.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at The New York Times