July 20, 2017 — U.S. officials are lifting a ban on some whale disentanglement efforts after briefly banning the practice that last week led to the death of a Canadian fisherman.
But the ban will stay in effect for right whales, “whose unpredictable behavior is particularly challenging during rescue attempts,” Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, said Tuesday.
In response to the death of Joe Howlett, who died after freeing a right whale from fishing gear, the fisheries division of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration on July 11 barred anyone from approaching an entangled whale in U.S. waters.
On Tuesday, it announced that rescue efforts could resume, but that it would only allow right whale disentanglement efforts “on a case-by-case basis,” depending on circumstances and availability of trained people. The suspension of right whale rescues likely will remain in effect as long as Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans investigates Howlett’s death, NOAA has said.
Federal law bars anyone from closely approaching whales, except for those specifically trained and authorized to do so for research or conservation purposes.
Howlett, 59, died July 10 while freeing a whale from fishing gear in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Shippagan, on the northeast coast of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Howlett, who helped found the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, was part of a group of trained responders who had just freed the whale when it struck and killed him.