Commercial lobstering in certain Massachusetts waters has been temporary banned, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration citing a danger to North Atlantic right whales.
The agency on Wednesday announced that it is extending "a temporary emergency rule" to prohibit trap and pot fishery buoy lines between federal and state waters within the Massachusetts Restricted Area from February through April 2023.
This emergency rule extension is necessary to reduce the risk of right whale mortality and serious injury caused by buoy lines in an area with a high co-occurrence of whales and buoy lines," according to a statement.
The NOAA also said the area was also restricted in April 2022.
In June, a study noted that fishing gear entanglements are the leading cause of serious injury and death right whales, which are critically endangered.
Fishing lines, as well as lobster and crab pots and gillnets, have hindered the survival and reproductive success of the whales, according to the study, which was conducted by scientists from the New England Aquarium in Massachusetts, as well as Duke University in North Carolina.
This species is heading quickly towards extinction because of human activities,” lead author Amy Knowlton, who is a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium, previously noted in a news release. “This study sheds further light on the role of fishing gear entanglements in their decline. Even if a right whale survives an entanglement, the injuries it sustains endure and can impact their health.”
The injuries typically occur after a whale collides with ropes from traps in the water.
While some injuries are minor, others are more severe, as line and rope become tightly wrapped around the whale several times and cause deep wounds that impair feeding and result in “energetic costs,” as the animals become exhausted from dragging the gear.
Previous work has shown reduced survival when the whale is carrying gear, but what really surprised us was the reduction in survival regardless of whether gear was present, which was especially apparent in females,” said study co-author Rob Schick, who is a research scientist at Duke University.
Scientists said there is an “urgent need for changes to the fishing industry,” as North Atlantic right whales are facing extinction. The species has an estimated population of fewer than 350 individuals, according to the release.
In the study, scientists said they tracked nearly 1,200 entanglements that involved 573 right whales between 1980 and 2011. They categorized each run-in based on the severity of the injury.
The data revealed the health of right whales that experienced an entanglement deteriorated as injury severity increased,” the news release noted. “Male and female right whales with severe injuries, including cases without the presence of fishing gear, were eight times more likely to die than males with minor injuries, and only 44% of males and just 33% of females with severe injuries survived longer than 36 months.”
The study also revealed that the effects of entanglement on reproductive success are more pronounced.
Female right whales with severe injuries who survived had the lowest birth rates,” according to the release. “As the health of reproductively active females declined, their calving intervals also increased, a worrisome trend for the long-term survival of the species.”
Aside from fishing gear, whales also become involved in collisions with boats. Plus, they have been impacted by recent effects of climate change, as their food resources change and become less predictable. The good news, however, is right whales have the ability to adapt.
But with changes in fishing activities, such as the expansion of fishing efforts and strengthening of ropes, the rate of serious entanglements that cause severe injuries has been increasing.
If we are going to save right whales from imminent extinction, dramatic changes to how fixed fishing gear activities are presently conducted are needed,” Knowlton said. “We believe these changes will require support from both the U.S. and Canadian governments to help the fishing industry transition to gear that will allow the industry to operate in a manner that is safer for whales and other marine species. The New England Aquarium has been actively engaged in solutions for four decades, including promoting ropeless fishing methods and reduced breaking strength ropes. We are committed to continuing this collaborative work to save this species from extinction.”