Saving Seafood

Makah Tribe whaling hearing begins

November 14, 2019 — A federal agency’s April 4 recommendation to allow the Makah Tribe to resume whaling on grounds that killing the animals would not have a noticeable impact on the species’ population will be put to the test beginning Thursday, Nov. 14, in Seattle.

U.S. Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge George J. Jordan will begin reviewing arguments at 1 p.m. on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s decision to grant the tribe a waiver of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The hearing room is at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building.

Jordan must make a recommendation “promptly” to Chris Oliver, assistant administrator of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, according to federal regulations, said Michael Milstein, NOAA spokesperson. The hearing is expected to last through Nov. 22.

An overflow room at the Jackson Building will be provided where onlookers can view today’s proceeding on a monitor, Milstein said.

A 2015 draft environmental impact statement on Makah whaling by the National Marine Fisheries Service generated 57,000 comments, most of which were form letters.

Read the full story at The Peninsula Daily News

MAINE: Lobstermen’s Association rejects DMR whale proposal

November 14, 2019 — Efforts to find consensus over how to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in fishing gear without decimating the Maine lobster industry took a blow last week.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) announced that it would not support a plan developed by the Department of Marine Resources “because it seeks reductions that exceed the documented risk posed by the Maine lobster fishery” and “creates unresolved safety and operational challenges for some sectors of the lobster industry,” MLA Executive Director Patrice McCarron said in an email Saturday.

The MLA decision came late last week after DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher held a series of meetings with lobstermen in Ellsworth, Waldoboro and South Portland.

The meetings were held to present the department’s response to a proposal by the National Marine Fisheries Service that would require a 50 percent reduction in the number of vertical endlines, which connect lobster traps to buoys on the surface, used by Maine lobstermen.

The goal, according to NMFS, was to reduce the risk of right whale entanglement in fishing gear by 60 percent.

Throughout the summer, DMR developed an alternative plan that called for many Maine lobstermen to “trawl up” by fishing more traps in strings attached to one or two endlines.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Maine lobstermen group pans state whale plan

November 13, 2019 — The state of Maine has opted to go it alone against NOAA Fisheries and the plan drafted by the federal Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction team to impose new right whale protections. But that decision seems to have hit a sizable snag.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the state’s largest and most influential lobster trade group, has said it will not support the state’s autonomous draft plan, not even over the more rigorous and restrictive plan developed by the take reduction team.

According to the MLA, both plans place too much onus and blame on the state’s $500 million lobster industry for entanglements that may lead to critical injuries or deaths for the imperiled North Atlantic right whales. Estimates are there are only about 400 of the whales.

“The Maine Lobstermen’s Association voted not to support the Maine Department of Marine Resources whale plan because it seeks reductions that exceed the documented risk posed by the Maine lobster fishery as demonstrated in MLA’s analysis of (NOAA Fisheries) data,” the MLA said in a statement. “The MLA conducted a thorough analysis of fishing gear removed from entangled right whales which revealed that lobster is the least prevalent gear. The MLA is also concerned the state’s plan creates unsolved safety and operational challenges for some sectors in the lobster industry.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Federal habitats to protect whales would reach to Alaska

November 12, 2019 — The National Marine Fisheries Service proposed creating critical habitat sites to protect humpback whales that will extend to waters off Alaska, officials said.

The habitats are focused on the feeding areas of groups of humpback whales and include the area off Juneau, The Juneau Empire reported Sunday.

A critical habitat does not establish a sanctuary or preserve, said Lisa Manning, an official with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the fisheries service. Manning conducted a public presentation about critical habitats at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau last week.

“It does not affect recreational activities. It does not affect private lands,” Manning said. “It only affects federal activities.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Times

Dungeness crab fishing season delayed due to whale and sea turtle entanglement risk

November 12, 2019 — State Fish and Wildlife officials are delaying the start of the Dungeness crab fishing season due to a threat of whale and sea turtle entanglements.

Charlton Bonham, director of the Fish and Wildlife department, issued a decision to postpone the start date for California Dungeness crab fishermen south of the Mendocino/Sonoma County line for one week — from Nov. 15 to Nov. 22. The decision was based on data indicating the prevalence of whales in the area.

Bonham’s decision to minimize entanglement risk follows a court-approved agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity, a Phoenix-based environmental nonprofit that in 2017 sued the wildlife agency, claiming it had fallen short in preventing Dungeness crab fishing gear from killing humpback, blue whales and leatherback sea turtles. Fish and Wildlife is responsible for granting the fishery its permits.

Bonham originally delayed the start of the season until Nov. 23, but moved it up one day after receiving input from the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group. The group, made up of commercial and recreational fishermen, environmentalists, members of the disentanglement network, and state and federal agencies explores ways to minimize whale entanglements in crab fishing gear.

Read the full story at The Daily Democrat

Second Maine lobstering group rejects state’s plan for protecting whales

November 11, 2019 — The state’s biggest lobster trade group will not support Maine’s right whale protection plan, saying it asks the state’s most valuable fishery to make concessions that exceed the risk it poses to the endangered species.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association staked out its position on the Maine Department of Marine Resources’ proposal with a board vote Thursday night. Director Patrice McCarron would not disclose the vote breakdown, calling that a private matter. The group did, however, release a statement about why it couldn’t support the plan.

“It seeks reductions that exceed the documented risk posed by the Maine lobster fishery,” the statement said of the state plan. “The MLA conducted a thorough analysis of fishing gear removed from entangled right whales which revealed that lobster is the least prevalent gear.”

The MLA has decided to come up with its own whale protection plan based on right-sized risks posed by the industry that it will submit to the National Marine Fisheries Service. The federal agency is drafting a new regulation, which is due out early next year, to protect right whales from fishing entanglements.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA proposes humpback whale habitat protections

November 11, 2019 — NOAA’s fisheries division, the National Marine Fisheries Service, has proposed creating a number of critical habitat sites ranging from the Channel Islands in southern California to the Bering Sea, including the waters off Juneau.

The critical habitats, created with the aim of protecting the feeding areas of three separate groups of humpback whales, or Megaptera novaeangliae, will not affect anything except for federal agencies seeking to use those waters for other purposes, said Lisa Manning, an official with NOAA. Her presentation to the public on the proposed habitats was held at University of Alaska Southeast on Thursday evening, and was attended by more than 30 people.

“A critical habitat does not establish a sanctuary or preserve. It does not affect recreational activities. It does not affect private lands,” Manning said. “It only affects federal activities.”

The proposed habitats, which cover 175,182 square nautical miles in total, are the traditional feeding areas of three of the 14 major humpback whale distinct population segments (DPS), Manning said. The three groups that come to Alaska and California to summer and feed spend the rest of their time west of Mexico, west of Central America and east of Taiwan respectively. These three groups are currently threatened, and protecting their feeding areas may help them to regain their footing, Manning said. Some of these groups may number 2,000 whales or less.

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

Maine Lobstermen’s Association won’t support new right whale rules

November 11, 2019 — After a week of hearings on a proposal to implement new rules to protect endangered right whales, a leading group has decided not support the plan.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources held three hearings on the plan, including one in South Portland Wednesday, to take public comments, most coming from lobstermen against the proposal.

On Thursday, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association voted “not to support” the plan “because it seeks reductions that exceed the documented risk posed by the Maine lobster fishery,” the association said in a statement posted on its website.

The plan calls for a reduction of the vertical lobster trap lines in the Gulf of Maine. Maine fishery officials say they would remove 25 percent of the lines, not including an exemption for lobstermen who fish inshore waters.

Read the full story at WPFO

BANGOR DAILY NEWS: Better marking for lobster gear can help answer important whale question

November 8, 2019 — “I don’t like this,” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for a government proposal — particularly when those words are coming from the head of the state agency making the proposal.

But that’s what Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher told lobstermen at a meeting in Ellsworth Monday night, where he outlined the department’s new plan to reduce the risk posed to endangered North Atlantic right whales from Maine lobster gear.

While Keliher’s presentation may have lacked enthusiasm, it included a healthy dose of pragmatic reality.

A couple of fishermen did signal a willingness to give the state proposal a try, but frustration seemed the prevailing response Monday night. Keliher clearly shared some of that frustration, but correctly pointed out that the industry and the state find themselves facing pressure from the federal government and in the courts, where conservation groups are suing for stronger action to protect the endangered right whale.

The state plan is a counter offer of sorts to a federal proposal that would require a 50 percent reduction in the vertical lines in the water that connect to lobster traps. Keliher said the state plan would amount to a 25 percent line reduction.

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangor Daily News

MAINE: Lobstermen weigh-in on new restrictions to protect right whales

November 7, 2019 — Lobstermen had the chance to weigh-in Wednesday night on potential new restrictions, designed to protect right whales.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources held the meeting in South Portland, to get feedback on the current plan, based on data from a federal team.

That plan calls for a reduction of the vertical lobster trap lines in the Gulf of Maine.

Maine fishery officials say they would remove 25 percent of the lines, not including an exemption for lobstermen who fish inshore waters.

The department says they working to find a balance, meanwhile lobstermen say they have done nothing wrong.

Read the full story at WGME