November’s elections sounded an alarm for conservation at the end of another deadly year for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. After four right whales died from vessel strikes earlier in the year, three more were reported entangled in December off the East Coast, including two predicted to die from the severity of their wounds. Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation groups play an important role in the fight to protect endangered species like this one. For right whales, Defenders works on behalf of right whale protections at the state level, in the courts, Congress and the Administration. It’s easy to see right whale injuries and deaths and think that nothing can be done, but even while we and our partners fight for the species, the biggest threat is untangling in the waters it shares with the fishing industry.
On the Ropes
The single biggest threat to North Atlantic right whales is entanglement in fishing gear. Since 2017, there have been 25 North Atlantic right whale deaths with identified causes. Ten of those are from entanglements with rope-based gear used for fishing lobster, snow crab, and other shellfish, and several more likely share the same cause. Out of 39 known cases of serious injuries (i.e., those likely to result in death) across the species since 2017, entanglement is to blame for 35 of them. Only half of all right whale deaths are ever reported, and even nonlethal entanglements impact birth rates.
The good news: It’s getting easier to go ropeless. A traditional lobster trap, for example, is tethered to a buoy floating on the surface. Ropeless (or on-demand) gear consists of a buoy, inflatable bag or spool attached to a trap at the seafloor, keeping static rope out of the water column. An electronic signal from the surface releases the buoy, bag, or spool, bringing the rope to the surface and enabling the traps to be retrieved.
Ropeless gear is already in experimental use, and ongoing research should help it to be adopted more widely. NOAA Fisheries helps interested fishermen test ropeless gear, getting the equipment into more hands and identifying what kinds of gear are most effective in differing fishing conditions. NOAA Fisheries also hosts a “gear library” with environmental and academic groups, offering different options that include a variety of ropeless systems that fishermen can borrow to determine the technologies that work best for them.
Communication goes both ways. NOAA Fisheries gets feedback from these fishermen on what works and what can be improved. The hope is for a future where ropeless gear can be safely used even in places that seasonally close off access to traditional fishing methods.
Tools at Sea
The second biggest threat to North Atlantic right whales is vessel strikes, the known cause of at least 15 right whale deaths since 2017. While the only known way to reduce the risk of lethal vessel strikes is for vessels to slow down while passing through areas where right whales may be present, efforts are underway to develop apps and other tools to provide real-time information to mariners about right whales in the vicinity. In 2024, NOAA Fisheries held a workshop to explore and promote tools like these.
Tools like these also benefit other whale species. WhaleWatch is used in areas where blue whales are sighted on the West Coast. The Whale Alert app, which was started for tracking right whales, shares real-time whale sightings, used by fishermen, recreational boaters and volunteer networks on the East Coast.
Because North Atlantic right whales are always on the move, monitoring apps and other technologies like these are not, and will never be, an effective replacement for measures encouraging vessels to slow down. Even so, these tools could help supplement other conservation measures to protect the right whale, if employed effectively.
What's being done and what you can do
Any tool costs money. The 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act authorizes Congress to appropriate as much as $50 million a year to go to research projects to develop technologies to protect right whales from entanglements and vessel strikes. How much Congress actually appropriates may vary, though — in 2023, for example, Congress only provided $20 million.
Meanwhile, Defenders of Wildlife has advocated for $40 million in annual funding for right whale conservation work for NOAA Fisheries. Some of this funding would go to getting on-demand gear into the hands of fishermen. We are seeking more funding to enforce vessel speed restrictions; survey and monitor right whale activity, including in waters without seasonal speed limits; and respond to entanglements and strandings and examine dead right whales.
Other help for whales needs public support to see the light of day, like the Whale Conservation Habitat Analysis, Research and Technical Strategies (CHARTS) Act of 2024. If enacted, this bill would improve data collection on the habitats and movement of baleen whales, including the North Atlantic right whale. At the same time, other draft legislation seeks to weaken or undermine protection measures already in place.
The best way you can help is by reaching out to your elected officials in Washington, D.C. and asking them to support funding and legislation to protect the North Atlantic right whale and to oppose legislative attacks on conservation efforts to protect these magnificent creatures.
Author
Daniel Moss
Areas of Expertise: Federal legislative process, budget and appropriations, nonlethal approaches to reducing conflicts with wildlife, marine mammal protection, the North Atlantic right whale, protection
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