Maine Urged to Take Action to Prevent Whale Entanglements

Gib Brogan, the campaign director associated with the Oceana conservation group, reiterated the requirement for action, calling for Maine to take on the responsibility and deploy measures to stop entanglements. For over half of the short life, the young whale reportedly suffered from a rope that got embedded in the tail, resulting in a needless and slow death because the government was not able to enact adequate protection to prevent the entanglements, mentioned Brogan.

According to Dr. Francine Kershaw from the National Resources Defense Council, the North Atlantic right whales in the waters of Maine navigate approximately 400,000 vertical buoy lines marking the lobster and crab traps. Despite this, the Maine lobster industry continues to deny the responsibility for whale entanglements. A few entanglements have been traced back to the Maine fisheries due to a lack of gear-marking requirements in 70% of Maine’s waters.

Dr. Kershaw also believes that the use of ropeless fishing systems can aid in eliminating entanglements. With the new information on the origin of the rope entangling #5120 coming to light, they also hope that the Maine lobster fishery will begin participating in reasonable faith efforts to advance the commercial use of ropeless fishing gears, she said.

A thorough investigation led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries has reportedly confirmed that a rope was recovered from a dead female North Atlantic right whale. It is consistent with the gear used in Maine’s trap or pot buoy lines. This whale has been identified as #5120.

The whale was found off Martha Vineyard in late January 2024. The young right whale was born in 2021 during the calving season and was the only known calf of Squilla, a right whale identified as #3720. She was the first to be found entangled in fishing gear off New Brunswick in August 2022, and despite disentanglement attempts, her condition had deteriorated by the time she was last seen in June 2023.

Necropsy results are still awaited, and the NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is proceeding with the investigation. The whale’s death marks the 37th death since an Unusual Mortality Event was declared for the North Atlantic right whales in 2017. These deaths have raised concerns as the North Atlantic right whales are close to extinction, with less than 360 individuals remaining, of which less than 70 are reproductively active females.

Reference: NRDC

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– Maine fishing gear and North Atlantic right whale death
– Maine fishing gear impact on North Atlantic right whale mortality.