Saving Seafood

Right whale advocates’ billboard asks if lobster is “whale-safe” 

August 10, 2021 — As drivers head through Massachusetts to Vacationland on their way to scenic Mount Desert Island and the wonders of Acadia National Park, they may see a sight that would get a lobsterman’s blood boiling.   

Mainers Guarding Right Whales, a nonprofit organization that says its mission is to help save the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale from extinction, has launched a new campaign with a billboard that asks, “Is your lobster whale-safe?”   

Readers are prompted to text a number that tells them that there is no certification program that ensures Maine lobster is “whale-safe” and that the organization calls for the implementation of “ropeless” fishing, a technology that takes vertical ropes out of the water column. The technology has not made its way to wide commercial use.    

“We believe if we can educate and inform travelers about the near extinction of right whales and the cause, they will take action and help protect the whales,” said Barbara Skapa, the founder and executive director of Mainers Guarding Right Whales. “The fishing industry in Maine has a long history of adapting to change in the face of new challenges, and we believe with the right support it will do just that. The biggest challenge is that ropeless technology is costly and requires sustained governmental subsidization to equip Maine’s lobster fisheries.”  

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Speeding ships in the Chesapeake Bay endanger rare right whales, environmentalists report

August 9, 2021 — Most ships moving through the Chesapeake Bay don’t slow down as required to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale, environmentalists said in a new report.

About 64% of vessels in the area don’t comply with speed rules designed to allow boat drivers to see and veer around the whales susceptible to strikes — sometimes going up to four times the required speed, according to the report released recently by conservation nonprofit Oceana. Cargo ships were the worst offenders.

There are fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales left, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, making them one of the most endangered marine mammals on the planet.

They were named for being the “right whale” to kill during the whaling era, said Whitney Webber, Oceana’s campaign director. They were easy to pursue and their thick layer of blubber — used for oil — kept them afloat after killing, according to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

Read the full story at The Virginian-Pilot

Critical habitat for killer whales extended south along California coast

August 6, 2021 — The Biden administration extended critical habitat designations for the highly endangered Southern Resident orca population, to cover nearly 16,000 square miles of Pacific waters from Washington south to Point Sur, Calif.

The whales currently have had critical habitat protected in the inland waters of Washington state, where the Southern orca population of just 75 animals is highly dependent on chinook salmon – stocks that themselves are in danger from habitat loss and pollution in the region.

A final order from NMFS, published in the Aug. 2 Federal Register and taking effect Sept.1, maintains the Puget Sound protected region and extends the critical habitat designation out to the 200-meter (656-foot) sea floor contour.

“This revision is based on over a decade of research that improved our knowledge of Southern Resident killer whales’ geographic range, diet, and habitat needs, including their movements up and down the West Coast,” according to a NMFS announcement.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

JESSICA HATHAWAY: Bad bait: Right whale group gets it wrong

August 6, 2021 — Can a marine animal rights group do its best work from the side of the highway? One thing that’s sure is Mainers Guarding Right Whales’ new billboard campaign is garnering some attention this week. The downside is that the spotlight is coming with a big helping of side eye.

The campaign is aimed at tourists heading to Maine, ostensibly to inform them that “lobster dinners at seaside harbors come at a steep price to North Atlantic right whales,” according to the organization. The Maine-based group posted roadside signs in Massachusetts to launch the campaign, because billboards are not legal in Maine. It also recommends buying lobster from divers, which also is not legal in the state.

Once again, the target of a group proclaiming a goal of “guarding” the dwindling North Atlantic Right Whale population zeroes in on Maine lobstermen for no apparent reason.

Read the full opinion piece at National Fisherman

New buoy could help scientists protect whales from wind farm construction off the coast of Ocean City

August 5, 2021 — Each day, they appear as colorful blips on a black graph. The dispatches from a new buoy 23 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, could be nothing more than noise from passing ships or rough waves. But they could be whales.

It’s up to researchers at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science to tell the difference.

In groups of three, the small sound waves might be sei whales. A symphonic pattern of notes could be humpbacks — the “songbirds of the sea,” said Amber Fandel, a faculty research assistant with the center’s Chesapeake Biological Laboratory.

The buoy’s algorithm, developed by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, often thinks it’s discovered passing baleens. But the discerning eye of a researcher knows best. The hydrophone aboard the bright yellow and blue buoy, with brethren up and down the East Coast, hasn’t tracked a whale since it was plopped in the water in late May, though some are expected as the fall draws closer, Fandel said.

Lately, the scientists’ work has taken on fresh urgency. The buoy is located in the 80,000-acre lease area carved out for the MarWin wind farm. Construction on the win farm is likely to start sometime in 2024, officials said, and could present dangers to marine mammals.

Read the full story at The Baltimore Sun

Monterey Bay and parts of Big Sur added to expanded killer whale protection

August 4, 2021 — The federal government Monday expanded its critical habitat area for the endangered southern killer whale population that now includes all of Monterey Bay and a portion of the waters off the Big Sur coast.

The new critical habitat designation also added a large portion of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary down to Point Sur, about 25 miles south of Monterey. The new designation takes effect on Sept. 1.

The demise of what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, calls the Southern Resident population of killer whales is the result of a number of factors, including the lack of its primary food source: chinook salmon

Read the full story at Mercury News

Higher Vessel Speeds Offset Salmon Abundance for Endangered Orcas, Reducing Chance of Catching Prey

August 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Increased abundance of salmon in the inland waters of the Salish Sea increased the odds of endangered Southern Resident killer whales capturing salmon as prey, but increased speeds of nearby boats did just the opposite, according to new research findings.

The research was led by NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center. It found that the orcas descended more slowly, and took longer dives to capture prey, when nearby boats had navigational sonar switched on. The sonar from private and commercial vessels directly overlaps the main sound frequencies the whales use to hunt. This may mask the whales’ signals and force them to expend more energy to catch prey.

“That suggests that it may prolong their effort to dive in search of prey, which like all marine mammals they have to do on a breath hold—so they can stay underwater only so long,” said Marla Holt, research wildlife biologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and lead author of the new research. Researchers used suction-cup tags that record whale movements and sound to track and analyze their behavior and use of sound to hunt.

Earlier research found that the faster nearby vessels traveled, the greater noise the endangered killer whales experienced. That could help explain why higher speeds of nearby vessels were associated with reduced odds of the whales capturing prey. Faster vessels might also seem more unpredictable to the whales, possibly distracting them as they close in on prey, Holt said.

“Consequences of reduced food intake include negative impacts on the whales’ ability to meet their energetic requirements to support key life functions, including growth and reproduction,” the scientists wrote in the new research paper published in the journal Marine Environmental Research.

Read the full release here

More endangered right whales using New England wind energy areas

August 4, 2021 — North Atlantic right whales, one of the most endangered species in the world, are spending more time in southern New England waters where immense offshore wind energy installations are to be built.

A new analysis, published in the July 29 edition of the journal Endangered Species Research, shows how measures to protect the whale population – estimated at only around 366 animals – will be crucial if the Biden administration’s drive to develop offshore wind is to succeed.

“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, in a summary of the findings issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Marine mammal researchers at the New England Aquarium and colleagues at NEFSC and the Center for Coastal Studies examined aerial survey data collected between 2011–2015 and 2017–2019 to quantify right whale distribution, residency, demographics, and movements in the region.

The New England Aquarium used systematic aerial surveys, and NEFSC and the Center for Coastal Studies directed surveys conducted in areas where right whales were present, to document aggregations of right whales. Aerial photographs of individual right whales to help estimate the whales’ abundance and residency times, and the photos identify individual whales by distinctive patches of raised tissue on their head, lips, and chin, and by scars on their body.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New ‘slow zone’ to protect rare whales off Massachusetts

August 4, 2021 — The federal government has announced a new voluntary speed restriction zone to try to protect rare whales off the Massachusetts coast.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the new “slow zone” is located southeast of Nantucket and began on Aug. 1. It’s in effect through Aug. 16.

The zone is designed to protect North Atlantic right whales, which number only about 360.

The agency is asking mariners to route around the area entirely or transit through it at 10 knots (11.5 miles per hour) or less.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Daily Times

Nonprofit launches “Is your lobster whale-safe?” campaign

August 3, 2021 — Nonprofit organization Mainers Guarding Right Whales has launched a campaign featuring advertisements and a billboard that asks “Is your lobster whale-safe?”

The billboard is located along roadways in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and is targeted at travelers heading into the nearby state of Maine (billboards along roadways are banned in Maine). The billboard, according to the organization, is intended to inform travelers that “lobster dinners at seaside harbors come at a steep price to North Atlantic right whales.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source