Nineteen North Atlantic right whale calves were born this season, which is one of the highest numbers in years, but Hanna Vatcher from Oceana Canada says it’s still not enough. “Nineteen calves born is fantastic. It’s always great when we hear such a high number,” said Vatcher. “But new research is actually showing that we need about 50 calves born a year over multiple years in order for the population to bounce back. “Entanglements are one of the leading causes of deaths to right whales, especially since 2017 when there was what we call an unusual mortality event that happened for right whales.” As the whales face vessel and fishing gear threats in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the need to help them is top of mind. “They used to be found, historically, in the Bay of Fundy in Canada. That’s their primary spot for feeding and where their prey was found,” explained Vatcher. “And then something happened, and all their prey switched out in the Bay of Fundy and moved into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. And this was due to climate change and warming water conditions. “The whales, they’re going to follow their food, so they started moving into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which put them directly in the path of heavy, commercial fishing. A lot of Canada’s lobster, lucrative lobster and snow crab fishing occurs in the Gulf. We’ve really seen an uptick in entanglements in Canada since 2017.” As the pods move into Canadian waters in the warmer weather, Oceana Canada stressed that whale-safe fishing gear, which has been tested for several years, needs to be implemented. “Now in Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans does have some management measures in place, to protect whales from entanglements,” said Vatcher. “Whenever a right whale is sighted in Canadian waters, an area of around 2000km² closes where no fishing can occur. All gear has to be removed from the water for a period of about two weeks, depending on if that whale is sighted again. “But there is a new, actually, emerging technology called ‘on-demand’ for fishing gear that exists. What this gear does is it actually removes the vertical fishing rope that’s suspended in the water. This is the rope that is posing the most entanglement risk to whales. It stores the rope at the seafloor, so that it’s not persistently in the water. “Fishermen, when they’re ready to haul their catch, they just send an acoustic signal down and it will release. Fishermen have been actively engaged in and testing it and providing their feedback and how to make it better. Canada needs to kind of advance this gear more.” It was supposed to be launched in 2025, according to Vatcher, but it has been delayed. “We really need to see that strategy come out soon before whales come back to Canadian waters. That will highlight kind of the next steps for this technology,” she said. “And how to make it more affordable, how to advance its capabilities. And because it really is a powerful tool to both protect whales and reduce entanglement, but also keeping fishers on the water if they’re faced with the closure. “Whales are so important in fighting climate change. They store a lot of carbon in their bodies. One whale can store up to 70,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.”
