North Atlantic Right Whale

Background

The North Atlantic right whale is the most endangered large whale on the planet. Historically found throughout the Atlantic Ocean, it was named the “right” whale because its large body and thick blubber made it attractive to hunt – it can weigh up to 70,000 kilograms and measure up to 18 metres. This led to centuries of overexploitation.

Globally protected from commercial whaling in 1935, the North Atlantic right whale is now almost solely found in the Western Atlantic Ocean, from the coast of Florida up to Atlantic Canada. Increasing numbers of North Atlantic right whales are being killed by human activities, making this a major factor limiting the population’s recovery by impacting overall population survival. Specifically, North Atlantic right whales are highly susceptible to ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear due to their habitat being heavily used by the shipping and fishing industries. This, combined with lower calving rates since 2010, is restricting the species’ ability to recover, placing them at risk for extinction in as little as 20 years.

With increasing risks to North Atlantic right whales from entanglement and ship strikes, we are working alongside government and industry to better quantify the risks, and to develop innovative approaches to decrease the threat of entanglement and improve fisheries management measures.

Program Overview

The purpose of this project is to conduct stewardship, monitoring and necessary research activities that will contribute to the recovery of North Atlantic right whales by reducing their likelihood of becoming entangled in fishing gear in Canadian waters. In other words, this project focuses on entanglement prevention.

In 2007, Grand Manan Basin in the Bay of Fundy and Roseway Basin off of Southwestern Nova Scotia were designated as critical habitat. This designation protects these important North Atlantic right whale foraging grounds from human activities that may result in destruction of the habitat. Shipping routes were also rerouted to mitigate the risk of ship strikes. In recent years, however, larger numbers of North Atlantic right whales have been seen feeding in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. This change in distribution is thought to be due to increasing water temperatures causing copepods – their main prey – to be found in larger concentrations in the Gulf. The increase in North Atlantic right whale sightings in the Gulf brings new concerns about human activities in this area and the protection of North Atlantic right whales.

The project takes place in the Atlantic Canadian waters surrounding New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and southeastern Quebec.

The main project outcomes include fisher-led development and evaluation of fishing technology that will reduce entanglements; involvement of fishers and Indigenous communities in active roles that reduce the threat of entanglement; and improved knowledge of the distribution, health and entanglement risks of North Atlantic right whales within Canadian waters.

Evaluating and informing fisheries management efforts for conservation

About the project: The Canadian Wildlife Federation is working alongside government to improve fisheries management measures and to support evidence-based decision making for the conservation of at-risk marine species.

Goal: We want to increase transparency and improve the effectiveness of fisheries management decisions made to protect Canada’s large whales from entanglement in commercial fishing gear. To do so we are developing tools, such as mathematical models, to evaluate the costs to fisheries versus the conservation benefits of fisheries management measures. By examining the tradeoffs between the two, we can make recommendations on how to enhance the effectiveness of entanglement mitigation efforts while minimizing disruptions to important commercial fisheries.

History: In 2017, North Atlantic right whale deaths from entanglement prompted the DFO to implement new fisheries management measures, including large fishing exclusion zones designed to protect foraging whales by keeping certain areas free of fishing gear. However, these measures raised concerns about the costs to fisheries and the effectiveness at reducing the threat of entanglement.

We have developed a predictive model that allows us to examine where fishers will move to if excluded from their primary fishing ground. For example, the snow crab fishery in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence has closed many areas to fishing activity due to the presence of North Atlantic right whales. The fishers still need to be able to fish, however, so our model predicts where they might fish once their original location has been closed. Using this model, we can evaluate the socio-economic costs to the fishery as well as the conservation value (i.e. reduction of entanglement risk) of these closures.

Future: CWF recently completed validating the model by comparing model results with actual results. To do so, we used data from commercial fisheries and North Atlantic right whale sightings. Next, we will present the model to relevant stakeholders. Finally, we hope to adapt the model to other fisheries to be able to predict how they will react to closures. This would allow us to better inform management decisions and conservation efforts to mitigate the risk of entanglement.

Trials of ropeless fishing gear

About the project: The Canadian Wildlife Federation is partnering with fishers and First Nations communal-commercial fishers to test ropeless fishing technologies in Atlantic Canadian commercial fisheries.

Goal: We want to allow fishers to test various ropeless fishing gear systems to determine whether they are a potential risk mitigation tool to help prevent marine mammal entanglement from fishing gear.

History: In 2017, the Canadian government began closing fixed-gear fisheries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in response to a large number of North Atlantic right whales found dead in the area. With the development of ropeless fishing gear, it is possible that fisheries could co-exist in areas with a high presence of North Atlantic right whales. While these ropeless systems have been tested and proven in other applications, minimal testing has been conducted in Canadian commercial fisheries.

Future: With funding from the Canada Nature Fund and PEW Charitable Trusts, we will purchase and test various ropeless fishing gear systems in partnership with fishers. Together, we will determine whether these systems may be a successful alternative to traditional fishing gear for use in areas currently closed to fishing due to the presence of North Atlantic right whales.

Biophysical model of whale-vessel collisions

About the project: The Canadian Wildlife Federation, in partnership with Dalhousie University, is striving to better understand the impact that ocean-going vessels have when they strike whales. By using historical whale-strike data, we have created an interactive biophysical model that illustrates the stress exerted on the internal structures of a whale (e.g. skin, blubber, bone) by vessels and the resulting injury.

Goal: To identify the degree of injury whales incur after a vessel collision and to determine whether vessel size impacts the severity of the resulting injury.

History: In 2017, 17 North Atlantic right whale mortalities were recorded – the most in recent history. Of those 17 deaths, five individuals died from blunt force trauma widely understood to have been caused by vessel strikes. Current management practices, such as diverting shipping lanes and implementing speed restrictions, look to reduce the occurrences of whale strikes, but neither practice by itself is a perfect solution.

Future: By creating a biophysical model, CWF provides a tool for scientists and managers to better understand what occurs to a whale during and after a collision event. The information derived from the model can inform current speed restrictions and support the idea of a more conservative speed.

Reports and Papers

• Brillant & Trippel 2010. Elevations of lobster fishery groundlines in relation to their potential to entangle endangered North Atlantic right whales in the Bay of Fundy, Canada.
• Brillant et al. 2015. Quantitative estimates of the movement and distribution of North Atlantic right whales along the northeast coast of North America.
• Brillant et al. 2017. A timely opportunity to protect North Atlantic Right Whales in Canada.
• Cockeron et al. 2018. The recovery of North Atlantic right whales has been constrained by human-caused mortality.
• Davies & Brillant 2019. Mass human-caused mortality spurs federal action to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales in Canada.
• Knowlton et al. 2012. Monitoring North Atlantic right whale entanglement rates: a 30 yr retrospective. Analysis of entanglement rates.

Sign Up for Timely Articles and Tips