Saving Seafood

MAINE: Deer Isle lobstermen offer whale rule alternative

June 17, 2019 — For Maine lobstermen, 2019 is likely to bring a summer of discontent.

Fuel prices are high. Cuts in herring fishing quotas — with further cuts likely — mean that bait is likely to be extremely scarce, and whatever’s available extremely expensive as the season develops. And that’s the good news.

What really has lobstermen worked up is the demand by federal regulators that they reduce the risk of death or injury to endangered right whales in the Gulf of Maine by 60 percent. To do that, Maine lobstermen will have to reduce the number of vertical endlines in the water — the lines that link traps on the bottom to buoys on the surface — by 50 percent.

Despite the harsh restrictions, the recommendations of NOAA’s Large Whale Take Reduction Team were a victory of sorts. For the time being, there is no suggestion of closing areas of the Gulf of Maine to fishing and the demand by some conservation organizations for the use of “ropeless” fishing gear was quashed.

Last Thursday, Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher drew a packed house to a meeting of the Zone C Lobster Management Council, held at the Reach Performing Arts Center in the Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School, to explain the regulatory process and to hear suggestions from lobstermen as to how best to meet the line reduction goal in the area where they fish.

It was the second of seven meetings Keliher has scheduled with the state’s seven zone councils this month. Carl Wilson, DMR’s chief scientist, and most of the department’s upper echelon, were on hand as well.

DMR is working on a very tight timeline, Keliher said.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

As right whales surge north, one death too many

June 17, 2019 — Before the leviathan was dragged to shore, before it was found floating at sea trailing a slick of blood, the massive creature had had its run-ins with its greatest nemesis: human beings.

This North Atlantic right whale — among the most endangered species on the planet — was known by researchers as Wolverine, for three propeller cuts on its tailstock that reminded them of the trio of blades used by the comic book character of the same name. In its short life of nine years, journeying through thousands of miles of dense fishing grounds, the whale had endured at least one vessel strike and three entanglements in fishing gear.

Now, Wolverine was decomposing on a grassy beach at the northernmost tip of New Brunswick’s Acadian peninsula, its large, black fins inert in the salty air, its wide fluke tangled in red rope that the Canadian Coast Guard used to haul its carcass in from the frigid waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The death of even one of the mammals poses a grave threat to the species, given how few remain. But almost as notable is that Wolverine was here at all.

Until recently, right whales were seldom seen this far north. Now about a third of the species regularly comes to feed in these frigid waters. It has proved to be a very dangerous migration.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Feature: The Entanglement Tango

June 14, 2019 — Despite an ongoing federal trade war with China imposing tariffs on seafood exports and a looming bait crisis as herring quota were slashed in the Atlantic, Maine’s lobster fleet still managed to haul in crustacean cash. The fleet landed 120 million pounds of lobster worth $484 million in 2018, the fishery’s third-highest annual value ever.

Coming off a profitable year, lobstermen might normally be energized gearing up for the peak summer and fall — but the latest news in the industry’s labored relationship with the Atlantic’s endangered right whale population had them focused on the future of their livelihood instead of the upcoming summer.

In April, NOAA informed the industry that in order to reduce mortality and serious injury to right whales, the U.S. fishing industry would need to reduce risks to whales by 60 to 80 percent throughout New England.

To reach those goals, fishing stakeholders on the federal Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team agreed to attempt a drastic measure: significantly reducing the number of vertical lines used by the region’s lobstermen. In Maine, where thousands of small-scale lobstermen catch the majority of the U.S. lobster haul, that means reducing vertical lines in the water by at least 50 percent.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New restrictions considered to help protect whales off coast of Maine

June 11, 2019 — Dozens of lobstermen showed up for tonight’s meeting at Kennebunk High School.

They say the proposed restrictions are way too tough and could severely hurt Maine’s lobster industry.

The Department of Marine Resources is looking to remove hundreds of lobstermen’s vertical lines from the Gulf of Maine.

These lines are what connect the buoy to the trap.

Experts say right whales, which are near extinction, are getting entangled in them.

Roughly 411 right whales are estimated to be alive today.

While the department confirms no right whale deaths have occurred in the Gulf of Maine, the state still has to play its part due to federal law.

The department says the goal is to reduce the risk of entanglement deaths by sixty percent.

Lobstermen say if right whales aren’t getting hurt in their lines, it shouldn’t be their responsibility.

Read the full story at WGME

PFMC: Ad Hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup to Meet July 2 and July 23-24

June 11, 2019 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council) Ad Hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) Workgroup will convene two meetings, which are open to the public. The first meeting, to be held via webinar, will convene on Tuesday, July 2, 2019, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), or until business for the day has been completed. The second meeting, to be held in-person, will convene Tuesday, July 23, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.PDT, or until business for the day has been completed. It will continue on Wednesday, July 24, 2019, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. PDT, or until business for the day has been completed. These are public meetings and not public hearings. Public comments will be taken at the discretion of the Workgroup co-chairs as time allows.

Please see the SRKW July 2019 meeting notice on the Council’s website for full details(both the July 2 webinar and the July 23-24 in-person meeting).

For further information:

Human Population Growth Threatens Endangered Whales

June 4, 2019 — Population growth is threatening efforts to save Southern Resident killer whales, whose decline is not being treated with the urgency the crisis demands, officials said in a task force meeting in Washington state Monday.

The Puget Sound area surrounding the Salish Sea is expected to be home to almost 6 million more people by 2050, which would add between 33 and 150 square miles of paved area, according to the Washington Department of Commerce.

“Population growth is the top challenge for conserving habitat,” Jeff Davis, assistant director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s habitat program, said Monday at the Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force meeting.

Governor Jay Inslee convened the task force last year, asking it to provide recommendations to prevent the endangered whales’ extinction.

Unlike most orca, Southern Residents exclusively eat fish – mostly Chinook salmon, which are also listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Dwindling food, an abundance of ship noise that interferes with the whales’ ability to hear and increasingly toxic waters are factors that have reduced their numbers from a high of 200 to the current low of 76 whales, which are divided into three extended families – also known as pods.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

Feds declare emergency as gray whale deaths reach highest level in nearly 20 years

June 3, 2019 — Alarmed by the high number of gray whales that have been washing up dead on West Coast beaches this spring, the federal government on Friday declared the troubling trend a wildlife emergency.

The declaration by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration technically, the agency dubbed the deaths an “unusual mortality event” kicks in a provision of federal law that provides funding for scientists to figure out the cause when such die-offs of marine mammals occur, from whales and dolphins in the Pacific or Atlantic to manatees off Florida.

So far this year, at least 70 gray whales have been found dead and stranded along the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska the most in nearly 20 years, scientists from NOAA said Friday. In recent weeks, whales have washed up in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

On average about 35 of the giant marine mammals wash up dead on the West Coast in a year, or around three per month. Last year, 45 were found.

But the average number found dead for the first five months of the year on the West Coast is 15, so this year is seeing five times the average rate.

“There have been juveniles but adults as well. There have been males and females. It’s been all across the board at this point,” said Justin Viezbicke, NOAA’s California Stranding Coordinator.

Read the full story at The Chicago Tribune

In a settlement over whale entanglement, California’s Dungeness crab fishermen lose the spring season

June 3, 2019 — The worst-case scenario has been averted — no multiyear closure of California’s Dungeness crab fishery. But fishermen will feel the sting for years to come after a settlement in a lawsuit over whale and sea turtle entanglements has closed spring crabbing in the state for the foreseeable future. And the fishermen are not happy.

“The settlement is going to be extremely painful and extremely difficult to deal with,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, noting that millions of dollars in product will be left in the water this year. “But this was the best possible deal that was acceptable to all parties.”

At issue is a 2017 lawsuit in federal court by the Oakland, Calif.-based Center for Biological Diversity that argued the state of California was in violation of the Endangered Species Act after a three-year spike in whale entanglements in Dungeness crab fishing gear from 2014 to 2017.

The lawsuit sought to force the state of California to obtain a federal incidental take permit for whales and turtles — a process that takes around three years to implement. It would have been possible for the fishery to remain closed during the intervening years, although the CBD says it never sought an indefinite closure through litigation.

In 2015, 50 whales, including humpback, gray and blue whales, were confirmed to have become entangled in fishing gear, up from an average of less than 10 annual entanglements in the 15 years prior. In 2016, the number of entanglements remained high at 48 confirmed whale entanglements. Numbers in 2017 were down, but still above historical norms, with 31 confirmed entanglements on the West Coast.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Killers and kings: West Coast group intervenes in orca lawsuit

May 31, 2019 — On Wednesday, May 29, the federation, the West Coast’s largest trade organization of small-scale commercial fishermen, filed its opposition to the lawsuit filed in a Seattle federal court lawsuit on April 3, by the Wild Fish Conservancy and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The suit was reportedly filed to protect endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales which eat primarily king salmon, by arguing that their food supply is not well managed. This orca subgroup migrates from California’s coastal waters to Washington’s Puget Sound and into British Columbia. West Coast salmon fisheries outside of state waters are managed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which prioritizes sustainability and replenishment.

The suit claims that federally managed ocean salmon fisheries are allowing commercial harvest of the orcas’ food supply, which is contrary to NMFS data and management standards that commercial salmon fisheries have little or no impact on the whales. For many years the council has managed West Coast salmon fisheries to minimize any potential competition between orcas and fishermen, including through a NMFS-approved 2009 biological opinion, which contains various required mitigation measures that further minimize and mitigate impacts to the endangered whales.

“Seafood lovers on the West Coast should be proud of their fisheries management system, which is among the best in the world,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “The Center for Biological Diversity and Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service is naïve, counterproductive, and unnecessary. By suing, these two groups instead undermine the extraordinary coalition of scientists, managers, commercial fishermen, and conservationists that has come together to identify the strategies that will be used to recover the Southern Resident Killer Whale population.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Whale sightings and ship strike danger surge off New York

May 31, 2019 — Humpback whales are seen much more often around the approaches to New York Harbor, and with them comes the potential for more deadly encounters with vessels, according to a new study.

“Whales feed in close proximity to the entrance of the Port of New York and New Jersey, creating potentially dangerous situations for both vessels and whales. Documenting humpback whale presence and identifying the risks are crucial for both short- and long-term management,” wrote researchers at George Mason University in Virginia and Gotham Whale, a nonprofit group in New York City.

Published in the journal Marine Policy, authors Danielle M. Brown, Paul L. Sieswerda and E.C.M. Parsons report humpback whale sightings – along with strandings of dead whales – have substantially increased around the apex of the New York Bight since 2011. The team makes a case for stepping up whale monitoring in the Bight, for both conservation and the safety of mariners and whales.

A humpback whale and vessels near New York. Tugs and tows travel at lower speeds but can still be at risk of collision with whales feeding close to shore, according to a new study.

Read the full story at WorkBoat