Saving Seafood

NOAA wants smaller boats to slow down for whales. Fishermen say itโ€™s foolish overreach

May 15, 2024 โ€” Itโ€™s crunch time for a proposed amendment to a speed rule that would require even more boats to slow down to 10 knots over a much wider swath of the ocean to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The fate of the rule, which was initiated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration two years ago, now lies in an executive department within the White House called the Office of Information and Regulatory Review.

โ€œItโ€™s reached the final step of the rule-making process,โ€ said John Depersenaire, director of government affairs and sustainability for Viking Yachts in New Gretna, builders of custom boats between 33 and 90 feet, which would be impacted by the rule.

The rule has pitted environmentalists against vessel owners and operators, marine trades and fishing ports who find the rule overreaching. NOAA received over 90,000 written comments during the public comment period.

Read the full article at the Asbury Park Press

Court shuts down offshore wind challenges over endangered whale

May 1, 2024 โ€” Two attempts to sink the first major offshore wind project in the country over its impact to an endangered whale were shot down this week by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Solar developer Thomas Melone of Connecticut and a coalition of coastal residents in Massachusetts had separately sought to block the 62-turbine Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts. They argued that federal agencies did not address how offshore wind farm construction could threaten the endangered North American right whale population when issuing key permits.

Their appeals are part of a flurry of lawsuits that have sought, and so far failed, to bring down major offshore renewable projects that are keystones in President Joe Bidenโ€™s climate policy.

Read the full article at E&E News

 

Court shuts down offshore wind challenges over endangered whale

April 30, 2024 โ€” Two attempts to sink the first major offshore wind project in the country over its impact to an endangered whale were shot down this week by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Solar developer Thomas Melone of Connecticut and a coalition of coastal residents in Massachusetts had separately sought to block the 62-turbine Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts. They argued that federal agencies did not address how offshore wind farm construction could threaten the endangered North American right whale population when issuing key permits.

Their appeals are part of a flurry of lawsuits that have sought, and so far failed, to bring down major offshore renewable projects that are keystones in President Joe Bidenโ€™s climate policy.

Read the full article at E&E News

Right Whale Day in Mass. marked during tough year for species

April 25, 2024 โ€” Today marks the second annual Right Whale Day in Massachusetts.

The public is invited to spend it at the New England Aquarium, where beginning at 11 a.m. officials will discuss conservation efforts with Calvin, a 42-foot-long inflatable right whale, in the background.

The event falls just weeks after one of the critically endangered whales, a male known to researchers as #4143, was seen entangled off Rhode Island with rope coming out of both sides of his mouth.

Entanglement is a leading cause of death for North Atlantic right whales, whose population has fallen to around 350.

Erin Burke, the stateโ€™s protected species specialist, said her office is working with the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown to find #4143 before itโ€™s too late.

Read the full article at Vermont Public Media

Where have all the right whales gone? Researchers map population density to make predictions

April 15, 2024 โ€” Marine researchers have mapped the density of one of the most endangered large whale species worldwide, the North Atlantic right whale, using newly analyzed data to predict and help avoid whalesโ€™ harmful, even fatal, exposure to commercial fishing and vessel strikes.

Duke Universityโ€™s Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab led a collaboration of 11 institutions in the United States that pooled 17 years of available visual survey data covering 9.7 million square kilometers of the U.S. Atlanticโ€”roughly the same area as the entire contiguous United States.

This information was coupled with auditory data from almost 500 hydrophone recorders in US Atlantic waters that captured whalesโ€™ calls. Lining up visual and acoustic datasets for the first time, researchers built a statistical model to estimate the number of whales per square kilometer at different points in time. Researchers published their findings in Marine Ecology Progress Series.

โ€œThe more accurate and detailed the mapping, the better chance we have to save dwindling numbers of right whales from preventable injury and fatality,โ€ said Patrick Halpin, director of Dukeโ€™s Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab. The lab studies marine ecology, resource management, and , using data to inform ocean management and governance.

Read the full article at phys.org

Right whale is found entangled off New England in a devastating year for the vanishing species

April 15, 2024 โ€” A North Atlantic right whale has been spotted entangled in rope off New England, worsening an already devastating year for the vanishing animals, federal authorities said.

The right whales number less than 360 and are vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships. The entangled whale was seen Tuesday about 50 miles south of Rhode Islandโ€™s Block Island, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The whale has rope coming out of both sides of its mouth and has been far from shore, making it difficult for rescuers to help, NOAA said in a statement.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

NORTH CAROLINA: Can endangered right whales and charter fishing boats co-exist off the NC coast?

April 11, 2024 โ€” The 2024 hurricane season doesnโ€™t officially start for more than a month.

Yet a storm is already raging off the North Carolina coast, and this one involves the future of two of the most iconic symbols of the stateโ€™s coastal areas โˆ’ whales and fishing.

But to save one, whether one of the most highly endangered animals in the world or an industry that supports thousands of jobs and is worth millions to coastal communities, must the other go?

โ€œWeโ€™re not against species protection at all,โ€ said Frank Hugelmeyer, president and CEO of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA). โ€œBut we donโ€™t think you solve one existential problem by creating another one.โ€

Read the full article at USA Today

Right whale found dead off Virginia coast recently gave birth to calf, experts say

April 3, 2024 โ€” A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale was found dead off the coast of Virginia on Saturday, and her calf is missing, unlikely to survive without her, officials said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday confirmed the identity of the dead whale, female #1950, which was found floating approximately 50 miles offshore Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. The whale has been known to researchers since 1989, and gave birth to her sixth calf during the 2024 calving season.

NOAA Fisheries said the whale was towed to shore for a necropsy, which will be led by scientists at the University of North Carolina Wilmington alongside other organizations, to determine her cause of death. The carcass showed signs of shark scavenging.

According to NOAA Fisheries, female #1950 is the 40th mortality in the ongoing Unusual Mortality Event impacting North Atlantic right whales. the UME was declared in 2017, and includes 40 dead, 34 seriously injured, and 51 sublethally injured or ill whales. The agency said most were killed or injured by entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes in both U.S. and Canadian waters.

Read the full article at WIFR

Endangered North Atlantic right whale, new mom found dead off Virginia Beach coast

April 2, 2024 โ€” An endangered female North Atlantic right whale was found dead about 50 miles offshore from Back Bay Wildlife Refuge, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA said in a release that on the morning of March 30, a company conducting Mid-Atlantic whale surveys for the Navy notified NOAA Fisheries of a dead North Atlantic right whale.

The whale was identified as female #1950. NOAA says she was a mom from the 2024 calving season.

Her calf was not seen near her carcass, according to NOAA.

Read the full article at WTKR

Female North Atlantic right whale found dead off coast of Virginia

April 2, 2024 โ€” Another North Atlantic right whale has been found dead in U.S. waters.

The whale was found 30 March 2024 by representatives of HDR Inc. who were conducting Mid-Atlantic whale surveys for the U.S. Navy. The whale was floating approximately 50 miles offshore east of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. state of Virginia, according to NOAA. It was identified as adult female #1950, a six-time mother with a feeding calf born over the winter. Her calf was not seen in the vicinity of the carcass.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource