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Engagement on the science-based whale review

Engagement on the science-based whale review: A summary of what was heard, March 2018

Engagement on the science-based whale review: A summary of what was heard, March 2018 (PDF, 1.28 MB)

A summary of what was heard
March 2018

Engagement on the Science-based Whale Review
A Summary of What was Heard

Prepared by the consortium of Nielsen, Delaney + Associates, PubliVate.
Contract #: FP918-17-0001

Ce document est également disponible en français.

Table of Contents

6. Entanglements

Entanglement and entrapment of whales in fixed fishing gear, and other types of lines in the water, is a known threat, especially for the North Atlantic Right Whale. Interactions with fishing gear are a major cause of serious injury and death for this population, and an important impediment to recovery. Footnote 24 As of 2012, 83% of the North Atlantic Right Whale population was found to have scars indicative of an entanglement in fishing gear at some time in their lives, and the rate of serious entanglement detected has increased significantly over the past 30 years. Footnote 25 Linking entanglements to a particular location or gear type in Canada is difficult given the whales are highly mobile and often only ropes remain on an entangled whale; this part of the gear is unmarked and not identifiable.

6.1 Summary of Key Themes

Indigenous groups, Governments and other stakeholders provided feedback on the threat of entanglements for the North Atlantic Right Whale. This threat was not discussed for the Southern Resident Killer Whale or the St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga.

6.2 What Indigenous Groups Said

Indigenous groups are supportive of protecting North Atlantic Right Whales but also need to be able to fish to support themselves and their communities. They feel a responsibility to be involved in implementing actions. There is interest in conservation and in increasing community capacity to prevent risks and respond to entanglement events.

Some of the priority management actions that relate to fishing could infringe on Indigenous rights. The Government of Canada must be aware of this and its duty to consult.

Suggestions from Indigenous participants included:

6.3 What Governments and Other Stakeholders Said

In general, participants at in person/webinar meetings believe that additional capacity and funding is needed to prevent and respond to entanglements. Enhanced or new funding is needed to support Government of Canada activities as well as the activities of external partners.

Participants suggested funding is needed to:

Implement temporary fishery closures to remove fishing gear from whale critical habit and high use areas.

For the North Atlantic Right Whale, temporary fishery closures were identified in the science assessment report as a priority management action. Areas of focus for this action are:

  1. Currently identified critical habitat in Grand Manan Basin, Roseway Basin;
  2. Other identified high use areas

Participants supported the idea of modifying fishing activity in critical habitat. Some participants supported the idea of temporary fishery closures as a way to remove fishing gear from areas where whales are present and could potentially become entangled. For example, support was expressed for the recent step by the Government of Canada to close the snow crab fishery a few days early in an area where a large and sustained concentration of North Atlantic Right Whales were detected and were becoming entangled. Environmental non-governmental organizations have been promoting planned seasonal closures as a management action, rather than active removal of fixed fishing gear during the season in real time when whale presence is detected (i.e., dynamic area management), assuming real time detection is possible.

However, in general, participants felt that more specific information was needed to understand the practicalities of implementing fishery closures and the impact on Indigenous groups, local fishermen, and the fishing industry as a whole.

Participants suggested additional details were needed about:

Suggestions from other participants included:

Remove rope from the water column by using ropeless gear where North Atlantic Right Whales are present.

Participants were interested in exploring gear modification, but the focus on using ropeless gear was questioned. It was felt that more needs to be done to understand what gear and what type of rope is problematic to whales and what modifications would be feasible, workable, safe and practical.

Participant suggestions included:

Improve response to North Atlantic Right Whale Entanglements.

Participants agreed that response to North Atlantic Right Whale entanglement events needs to be strengthened in a number of ways.

Participants suggested to:

Introduce new gear marking, retrieval and reporting.

New gear marking and gear retrieval programs could help identify the source of gear involved in North Atlantic Right Whale entanglements. Although fishing gear (buoys and balloons) is already marked for ownership, gear marking of the rope components is needed as the gear retrieved is often only rope. Coloured markings could be used to identify gear used in each type of fishery as well as each type of line (e.g., end lines versus groundlines).

Participants felt that introducing new gear marking and gear reporting requirements could be relatively easy to implement and could help build understanding of the types of gear causing harm to North Atlantic Right Whales. However, they requested more specific information to help them understand actions and their implications.

Specific suggestions included:

6.4 What the General Public Said

The Let's Talk Whales online portal included an open-ended question designed to ask for opinions on the actions identified by scientists in the Phase 1 science assessment to address the threat of entanglement. The list of actions included:

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