A N A L Y S I S

Conservation Law Foundation’s Claims on Right Whales Don’t Add Up

(Saving Seafood)—May 9, 2013— Marine mammals are among the many species that merit consideration in the debate over modifying fishing area closures in Georges Bank. While the Conservation Law Foundation’s article (“Wrong Move for Right Whales,” 4/16) is correctly worried about the status of the critically endangered right whale, it’s unlikely that the modifications to the closed areas recommended under Framework 48 will negatively impact right whales or other marine mammals.

The bottom trawlers that stand to benefit from Framework 48 are not themselves a significant threat to right whales. They do not disturb right whale habitats, and do not interfere with the whales’ food sources. Trawlers will not be in direct contact with right whales in much of the area covered by Framework 48, as most right whale sightings have occurred in areas outside of the closures or in areas closed for habitat protection. These habitat areas are not under consideration for updating in this proposal.

Trawling gear also has limited contact with the whales, as most of the gear operates on the ocean bottom. The largest fishing-related threat to right whales comes from gillnets and other fixed gear, like lobster traps, that are placed vertically in the water column and therefore positioned in such a way that whales are much more likely to encounter them.

There is little concrete evidence that the proposed changes to the closed areas would actually harm right whales: “These analyses are almost always qualitative. It’s very difficult to come up with any definitive answers,” said Pat Fiorelli, a spokesperson for the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC).

Maggie Mooney-Seus, Communications Officer at NOAA’s Northeast Regional Office in Gloucester, Massachusetts, also emphasized that NOAA maintains ultimate control over protecting marine mammals. The closures are not open on an unlimited basis: the sectors in which the groundfish fishery is currently organized will need to apply for exemptions in order to enter them. So rather than a blanket opening, access to the sectors will be managed on a case-by-case basis, with NOAA evaluating the environmental effects of each individual exemption application. This still provides a mechanism for NOAA Fisheries to control right whale mortality in the closures, as they can restrict access based on the environmental impact of the exemptions or the number of right whale takes, an interaction resulting in injury or death, that occur.

Because of these possibilities, the NEFMC concluded in Framework 48 that “the management actions proposed are consistent with the provisions of the MMPA [Marine Mammal Protection Act]” and that “the measures will not alter the effectiveness of existing MMPA measures, such as take reduction plans, to protect those species based on overall reductions in fishing effort that have been implemented through the [Fishery Management Plan].”