Review of the Effectiveness of Recovery Activities for North Atlantic right whales

Sources of Information

Table of Contents

• Complete Text
• 1. Background
• 2. Objective of this Review
• 3. Sources of Information
• 4. Methods for Assessing Effectiveness of Recovery activities
• 5. Review of Recovery activities
  • 5.1. Recovery Objectives
  • 5.2. Threats
  • 5.3. Review of Recovery activities
• 6. Effectiveness of Recovery Activities
  • 6.1. Vessel Strikes
  • 6.2. Fishing-Gear Entanglements
  • 6.3. Disturbance and Habitat Reduction or Degradation
    • 6.3.1. Contaminants
    • 6.3.2. Acoustic Disturbance
    • 6.3.3. Vessel-presence disturbance
    • 6.3.4. Changes in Food Supply
• 7. Indirect Recovery Activities: Monitoring and Stewardship
• 8. Threat-Based Recommendations
  • 8.1. Vessel Strikes
  • 8.2. Fishing-Gear Entanglements
  • 8.3. Disturbance and Habitat Reduction or Degradation
  • 8.4. Required Research and Monitoring
• 9. Conclusions
• 10. Literature Cited
• Appendix A: Acronyms
• Appendix B: Defining Risk
• Appendix C: Summaries of Recovery Activities

3. Sources of Information

The Recovery Strategy for North Atlantic right whales in Atlantic Canadian Waters (hereafter referred to as the “Recovery Strategy”) was published in 2009 (Brown et al. 2009) and amended in 2014 (DFO 2014). The Recovery Strategy outlines the interim recovery goal for the species, recovery objectives, and broad strategies that should be implemented to achieve recovery, and performance indicators for the recovery strategies. The proposed Action Plan for North Atlantic right whale in Canada: Fisheries Interactions (“hereafter referred to as the “Action Plan”; DFO 2016a) outlines specific recovery activities needed to address the threat of fishing-gear interactions. The Report on the Progress of the Recovery Strategy Implemented for the North Atlantic right whale in Canadian Waters for the Period 2009-2014 (hereafter referred to as the “Progress Report”; DFO 2016b) describes recovery activities that have been completed or are underway. All three of these SARA recovery documents were consulted for the development of this review. The majority of the recovery activities presented here were obtained from the Action Plan and Progress Report. Other sources of information used include scientific primary literature, and reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).