Scientists weigh in on recommendations for North Atlantic right whale measures

A recent report on the North Atlantic right whale has one New Brunswick scientist feeling a little nervous about some of the recommendations from the standing committee on fisheries and oceans.

After taking time to review the 48 recommendations about North Atlantic right whales and fishing closures, Moira Brown, the senior scientist with the Canadian Whale Institute and a member of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, said there are "without a doubt" a lot of good recommendations in the report. 

But, she worries that some of the recommended relaxations won't be ideal for the right whales.

"I think the ones around the seasonal closure are a good idea, especially in consideration where some of the whales are seen in areas where they don't typically feed all summer, and yet those fisheries end up being closed," said Brown.

"But what does make me nervous is really a relaxation of the dynamic fishing measures."

These dynamic fishing measures, said Brown, refer to the closure of an area for 15 days when a whale is encountered and if a whale is seen in the second part of that closure, then it closes for 15 days or for the whole season, depending on the location. 

But the committee recommended that for the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Bay of Fundy and Roseway Basin, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans reduce this time period to seven to 10 days and that three whales must be spotted or heard during this time period to trigger another 10-day closure. 

"It's also just really difficult to get out and find these whales. Weather is a huge consideration up in the Gulf. And it may not be possible to go out and actually survey that area again in that seven-to-10-day time frame," said Brown. 

She said there has been a reduction in mortality rates of right whales since protections were put in place after unusual mortality events in 2017 and 2019. 

She thinks this is why the committee felt comfortable recommending big relaxations to the closure provisions for dynamic areas.

But Brown said there is still an entanglement problem that hasn't been solved and she likes the recommendations about looking at alternative technologies like on-demand gear, which refers to ropeless systems as opposed to a traditional line and buoy.

Amy Knowlton, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Mass., said that if Canada can help push the shift to on-demand fishing gear, that would be a huge step in the right direction.

She said the New England Aquarium determined that using lower breaking strength ropes could help a whale escape from the gear if it did get entangled. She said some U.S. fishermen have been using it successfully, despite some concern in the industry about it not being effective.

"I think there needs to be more work on that question of where reduced breaking strength rope can be effectively used to sort of help reduce one aspect of risk."

Some recent cases of entangled North Atlantic right whales include Argo, who was found off of the southern U.S. entangled in fishing gear from southern Nova Scotia, and Snow Cone who was seen wrapped in fishing gear a few times with researchers calling her death "all but certain."

At the end of 2022, Knowlton said the tally for remaining right whales was 340. She said there have been 11 calves born this year but also four entanglements, two of which Knowlton said were linked back to Canada.

Brown said that after an entanglement, a female's ability to reproduce seems to be hindered. She said more years often go by after an entanglement before birthing another calf and they tend to give birth to smaller calves.

She also said it's important for people to recognize that Canadian fishermen have done a lot to reduce their impact on North Atlantic right whales and they are the ones changing their day-to-day operations.

"They deserve all the credit in the world," said Brown. "It's just important not to relax those measures too much because we don't want to put the fisherman at risk of entangling a whale either."