Right whale estimate plummets while Maine lobstermen await restrictions
Courtesy / National Marine Fisheries Service
A right whale mother and calf are seen here during a survey of the population in June 2014.
A new scientific estimate has found the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale population is declining.
The estimate, from the National Marine Fisheries Service, comes as the lobster fishery awaits a draft of new federal restrictions that aim to reduce the potential for fishing gear to entangle the whales.
The number of right whales worldwide has declined from just over 400 to about 360, new data is showing.
Oceana, an ocean conservation nonprofit in Washington, D.C., is calling on the service to take immediate action to save the species from extinction.
“The new estimates that only about 360 North Atlantic right whales remain underscores the need for immediate action to protect this critically endangered species,” Oceana campaign director Whitney Webber said in the release.
“We must reduce the number of fishing lines in the water and require vessels to slow down when right whales are present. Oceana calls on the U.S. and Canadian governments to act now to strengthen protections for these whales before it’s too late.”
North Atlantic right whales were named for being the “right” whale to hunt because they were often found near shore, swim slowly and tend to float when killed. They were aggressively hunted, and their population dropped from peak estimates of up to 21,000 to perhaps fewer than 100 by the 1920s.
After whaling of North Atlantic right whales was banned in 1935, their population increased to as many as 483 individuals in 2010.
Vessel collisions
Collisions with vessels is one of the two leading causes of North Atlantic right whale injury and death. The whales are slow, swimming around 6 miles per hour, usually near the water’s surface. They are also dark in color and lack a dorsal fin, making them difficult to spot.
Studies have found that the speed of a vessel is a major factor in collisions with North Atlantic right whales. At normal operating speeds, many vessels cannot maneuver to avoid them, and North Atlantic right whales swim too slowly to be able to move out of the way. This puts them at great risk of being struck, which can cause deadly injuries from blunt-force trauma or cuts from propellers.
Entanglement
Entanglement in fishing gear used to catch lobster, snow crab and bottom-dwelling fish like halibut, flounder and cod is the other leading cause of North Atlantic right whale deaths.
Fishing gear from the U.S. and Canada entangles an estimated 100 North Atlantic right whales each year, and about 83% of all North Atlantic right whales have been entangled at least once. Ropes have been seen wrapped around North Atlantic right whales’ mouths, fins, tails and bodies, which slows them down, making it difficult to swim, reproduce and feed, and can kill them.
The lines also cut into the whales’ flesh, leading to life-threatening infections, and are so strong that they have severed fins and tails, and cut into bone.
'Dread and anxiety'
New whale rules, three years in development, are guided by the service’s goal to reduce the entanglement risk to whales by 60%. Federal court cases filed by conservation organizations have resulted in ruling that the service’s analysis of the impact of the lobster fishery on right whales was invalid, and required a new analysis, called a “biological opinion,” by May 2021.
“Like most of you, I await the release of the draft whale rules with a mixture of dread and anxiety,” Maine Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Patrice McCarron wrote in a letter to members in the association’s October newsletter. “While no one knows for sure what alternatives NMFS will propose in the new rules, they are sure to generate much angst and controversy.”
The Maine Department of Marine Resources has been working on a state plan as an alternative to the pending federal whale rule.
The plan is based on input from the state’s seven lobster zone councils. In-person meetings were held early this year and a subsequent series of remote meetings recently wrapped up. The plan aims both to preserve traditional fishing practices and comply with the federal risk-reduction goal by instituting "conservation equivalencies," according to an agency update.
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WOW!!! I am very saddened by the recent count in Right Whales "World wide"! It is truly tragic to think that we are seeing the extinction of a species of whale. They are beautiful and graceful creatures. As a commercial lobsterman (female) in Maine, I can saw that in 36 years of lobster fishing and as a commercial diver with over 10,000 hours underwater, I have never seen one in the wild. Maine lobstermen and women are not the problem. We have done everything asked at great cost to prevent any chance of entanglement with whales of any species. We have weaker (smaller ) ropes than are used in other places, breakaways that part the ropes when enough force is applied and now color our ropes to identify where they come from if found on a whale. Bottom line is that the food the Right Whale eats is not found in our waters. Whales do not come to Maine on Vacation!! They follow their food directly to Canada and that path takes them far outside the waters of Maine. If all Maine gear was removed from the ocean, it would NOT save a single whale. The conservation groups like Oceana have said that one move whale death would mean certain extinction for the right whale. With this revised count doesn't that mean sadly they are already doomed? Blaming Maine lobstermen for this is like blaming the polar bear crisis on Florida!!!
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