October 15, 2018 โ A week of meetings about how commercial fishermen could reduce harm to the imperiled North Atlantic right whales ended Friday with an immediate focus on exploring more temporary area closures with possible testing of new technologies, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries biologist Colleen Coogan, an organizer of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team.
โThere was extremes on both ends,โ Massachusetts Lobstermenโs Association president Arthur Sawyer said of pitches made at the monthly take reduction team meeting in Providence, Rhode Island.
Interest seemed to land on the possibilities of weaker rope, with 1,700 pounds as maximum breaking strength. That could allow right whales to break free of entanglements more easily, Sawyer said. โThat was kind of middle of the road,โ he said, and might be able to be put in place in the near future, although it might not be useful in deep water.