Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently met with Oceans Canada to discuss strategies for protecting the fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales estimated to remain.
The biannual meeting, designed as an opportunity to share information and innovations with one another to further conservation goals, has been focused on the preservation of the critically endangered right whale over the course of several sessions, a Jan. 5 NOAA press release said.
“As our Canadian counterparts stepped through their current conservation measures and plans for the future, I gained a better understanding of their priorities,” Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Janet Coit said in the release “They use a variety of techniques to study, protect, and recover these endangered whales, just as we do.”
Canada’s efforts include a grant program to research fishing equipment that is safer for whales, such as ropeless gear and weak buoy lines, the release said.
“Risk assessment was another topic we covered, including the level of risk reduction to right whales—especially from entanglements—that the Canadians are achieving under their conservation measures,” Coit said in the release. “We also discussed our respective regulations and goals with respect to reducing vessel speeds so as to curtail whale strikes.”
While experts say at least 20 new calves each year are necessary to keep the population from declining further, researchers have discovered 11 mother-calf pairs off the east coast of North America so far, providing a glimmer of hope for the whale’s survival, the release said.
“We will all continue working together with our Canadian counterparts on science, gear modifications and innovations, and management strategies to make progress in every way we can to further the protection of these endangered whales,” Coit said in the release.
Fisheries’ Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, Sam Rauch, and Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, Mike Pentony, were also present for the meeting.
