Saving Seafood

Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Partners Necropsy Minke Whale Near Gustavus

June 23, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A couple walking on the beach near Gustavus dock early on Sunday, May 30 were initially excited to spot a minke whale surface near a moored vessel. But then, they saw the whale dive and heard the mooring chain on the vessel pull taut, and the vessel spun around. That’s when they knew the whale was entangled.

A short time later, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Whale Biologist Janet Neilson had received word of the entanglement at home. She reported it to NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline.

Read more.

‘Minke whales for dinner’: Norway’s controversial whale hunt is still on

March 11, 2021 — Norway plans to kill up to 1,278 minke whales this year, according to a recent announcement made by the country’s fisheries ministry. This is the same quota as the previous two years, although whalers only killed 503 common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in 2020, and 429 in 2019.

“Norwegian whaling is about the right to utilize our natural resources,” Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, Norway’s minister of fisheries and seafood, said in a statement in Norwegian. “We manage on the basis of scientific knowledge and in a sustainable manner. In addition, whales are healthy and good food, and Norwegians want minke whales on their dinner plate.”

In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) issued a global moratorium on commercial whaling, which went into effect in 1986. But Norway, despite being a member of the IWC, formally objected to this ruling, and has continued to kill whales every year since 1993.

While proponents argue that Norway’s whaling program is sustainable, some scientists, conservationists, and animal welfare advocates disagree, arguing that it is unsustainable, unethical, and runs counter to the country’s conservation goals.

Read the full story at Mongabay

NOAA report links 70% of US whale deaths to fishing gear entanglements

December 10, 2018 — More than two-thirds (70%) of the 76 whales that were killed after being entangled in US waters in 2017 were caught up in fishing gear, including traps and buoy lines and nets, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says in its “National Large Whale Entanglement Report” released Thursday.

Most of the rest – 24% — were linked to lines that could not be attributed to a fishery activity, the US regulatory agency noted.

The data could get mentioned frequently as fishing-related regulatory agencies in the US and Canada take an increasingly harder look at how the use of lobster and snow crab traps might be contributing to whale deaths.

NOAA’s report notes that humpback whales accounted for 49 of the 76 whales that were snarled last year. That’s just above the 10-year average of 69.5 whales entangled per year. Gray and minke whales (seven each) were the next largest groups to be entangled.

Just three of the endangered North Atlantic right whales, the source of much of the controversy in the US and Canada, were part of the tally.

The majority of the whales, 33, were discovered on the northeastern US coast, from Maine to Virginia, though it’s not clear that’s where they got entangled in gear.

“Large whales are powerful and mobile. They can town gear with them for long, long distances, so where we observe them is not usually the place they became entangled,” Sarah Wilkin, national stranding and emergency response coordinator at NOAA Fisheries, is quoted by the Asbury Park (New Jersey) Press as saying.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Warming water drawing whales closer to shore

September 10, 2018 — Rising water temperatures have drawn whales closer to shore this year, experts say.

Several humpback whales, and some minke whales, have been seen close to shore, a paddelboarder caught on video just a few feet away from a humpback whale near Salisbury Beach, Mass., a week ago. A humpback was also caught in fishing gear in Rye a couple days before, and footage of close encounters with whales in New England have been posted all over social media and covered in news reports in recent months.

Tony LaCasse, spokesman for the New England Aquarium in Boston, said the higher water temperatures, believed to be brought on by climate change, have led to bait fish called menhaden, locally known as “pogies,” appearing closer to shore.

Pogies, he said, eat plankton that have been growing closer to shore because of the higher water temperatures, and several animals including the whales eat the pogies, following them near land. Drone footage of a whale feeding off the coast of Seabrook over Labor Day weekend went viral this week and made news headlines.

LaCasse said whales have been seen close to shore throughout the region this year with sightings in the mouth of the inner harbor in Boston. New England news stations showed footage recently of a whale in Beverly Harbor in Massachusetts lunge feeding, plowing through a school of fish to gulp a couple hundred pogies in its mouth while sending another hundred or so flying through the air, he said.

“They’re going to be close to shore so long as the menhaden are here,” LaCasse said.

He said the menhaden will migrate from the area when the temperature starts to drop.

Read the full story at Fosters.com

NOAA Reminds Boaters to Watch Out for Whales

July 28, 2017 — WASHINGTON — NOAA Fisheries is reminding boaters to keep a close eye out for feeding and traveling whales, along with following safe viewing guidelines.

During the summer whales are feeding on small schooling fish and zooplankton in coastal areas around New England.

Vessels should stay at least 100 feet away from humpback, fin, sei and minke whales and 500 feet away from critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

“Increased whale activity in areas off Northern New England are coinciding with summer boat traffic. We want to remind boaters of ways to prevent accidental interactions with whales, which can be fatal to the whales and cause damage to boats,” says Jeff Ray, the deputy special agent in charge for NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com