By David Pendered
Dec. 30 – North Atlantic right whales are nearing extinction. Meanwhile, a 28-year-long discussion continued in December as special interests wrangle over human use of ocean resources for commerce and recreation.
The Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team met Dec. 20. The group was formed in 1996 to serve as a platform for East Coast fishermen, scientists, conservationists, and state and federal officials to figure out ways to protect marine mammals from fishing gear. Members released their first plan in 1997.
Meanwhile, a by-the-numbers look at the state of the North Atlantic right whale is jaw-dropping. In 2017, NOAA declared the start of an era of elevated NARW deaths, injuries and strandings – and there are no signs of it ending:
- The species has dwindled to about 370 animals, including about 70 reproductively active females, according to NOAA. That’s down from a recent estimated peak of 477 in 2010 and prompted NOAA to declare the species in a Dec. 20 statement as “approaching extinction.”
- On Dec. 20, NOAA reported that 151 North American right whales are represented in the 2017-’24 Unusual Mortality Event – 41 dead, 39 seriously injured, and 71 sub-lethally injured or ill.
- Two more whales are expected to die of entanglements observed this autumn, and a third was deemed to suffer sublethal injuries from entanglement.
- 85 percent of North American Right Whales bear scars from entanglements, according to NOAA.
Read NOAA’s Dec. 20 report on these findings, and more: North Atlantic Right Whales Update.
Two big reasons the species has trouble surviving in waters traversed by humans involve entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes.
Entanglements occur when whales get caught in lines that connect crab and lobster traps strewn across the sea floor with buoys bobbing on the sea surface that fishermen use to retrieve traps. Regarding vessel strikes, the slow-moving, sea-colored whales are almost imperceptible form the bridge of an ocean-going freighter. That makes them vulnerable to being run down. Speed limits aim to reduce strikes, but vessels have financial incentives to hurry between ports and an analysis by Oceana determined that a large portion of vessels don’t slow down.
Oceana is a global advocacy organization with a long record of efforts to protect North Atlantic right whales. Two of its leaders offered these thoughts after the latest NARWs were found to be entangled:
Gib Brogan, campaign director at Oceana in the United States:
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is long overdue for establishing effective safeguards for North Atlantic right whales that prevent entanglements and simultaneously allow fisheries to operate in a truly sustainable way. NOAA’s 2029 plans for new protections from entanglements should include robust alternatives to remove vertical rope from the water in times and places whales are expected and detected, and allow the use of ropeless gear in areas closed to traditional gear, so that both whales and fishers can thrive. The real question is: will new protections be implemented before it’s too late?”
Kim Elmslie, campaign director at Oceana in Canada:
“Since 1980, over 1,617 entanglements have been documented based on scarring or attached gear, a direct result of weak regulations that fail to protect whales from fishing gear. Today, 86% of right whales bear scars from entanglements, and even minor incidents can cause life-threatening injuries and compromise their ability to reproduce. We are calling on Fisheries and Oceans Canada to urgently accelerate the transition to ropeless fishing gear in the areas that pose the greatest threat of entanglement.”
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