- North Atlantic Right Whale - Eubalaena glacialis
- North Pacific Right Whale - Eubalaena japonica
- Southern Right Whale - E. australis
- whales http://rwcatalog.neaq.org/#/whales
- Snow Cone NARW #3560
- scientists (including citizens)
- management- multi-level
- Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction - 1997 (25 years)
- yearly "stock assessment"
- Endangered Species Act - "jeopardy"
- Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction - 1997 (25 years)
- fishing
- whalers
- lobster and crab fishers
- others (lines, nets)
- tracking vessels for research and enforcement
- shipping
https://whalemap.ocean.dal.ca/#map
Critical Habitat (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2014
"The principal factor believed to be retarding growth and recovery of the [NARW] population is entanglement with fishing gear" - NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-258
"There are two endangered populations at stake here: the North Atlantic right whale and the Maine lobster fishermen.” - The Lobster Trap
The lobster industry in Maine has doubled since 2000
Since 2010, the average number of new NARW calves per year has halved, from 23 to 12
Due to warming waters in Gulf of Maine, lobster fishing has moved farther North and off-shore, ropes got stronger
- Knowlton, A.R., J. Robbins, S. Landry, H.A. McKenna, S.D. Kraus and T.B. Werner. 2016. Effects of fishing rope strength on the severity of large whale entanglements. Conserv. Biol. 30:318–328. DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12590
A Risk Analysis of Entanglement
"Unusual Mortality Event": "a stranding that is unexpected, involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population, and demands immediate response"
NOAA - science, regulation, and technology
regulations for right whales (2019)
AI for whale id from photos https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13226
Closures around Cape Code since 2015 Closures in Maine since 2021
- ROVs - acoustic detection of whales
- season limits -
- speed limits - slow down when right whales are seen
- "voluntary cooperation with DMAs has not proven to have a meaningful impact on vessel speed reduction"
- traps/trawl - less vertical lines
- weak rope and ropeless aka on-call fishing gear
- challenges
- Pioneers for a Thoughtful Co-Existence
- ropeless gear should also include locator tech, so anyone (trawlers) can know where there are traps without buoys
- gill nets - acoustic signals to warn whales
- 2021 proposed regulation changes related to ALWTR
- around 2/3 of entanglements are occuring in Gulf 0f Main and Canada