{"id":41977,"date":"2023-05-09T00:05:02","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T07:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/?post_type=custom_features&p=41977"},"modified":"2023-11-02T11:58:52","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T18:58:52","slug":"recreational-fishing-industry-ranks-the-safety-of-right-whales-below-profit","status":"publish","type":"custom_features","link":"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/features\/recreational-fishing-industry-ranks-the-safety-of-right-whales-below-profit\/","title":{"rendered":"Recreational Fishing Industry Ranks the Safety of Right Whales Below Profit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This story was originally published by <\/em>Undark<\/a> and is reproduced here <\/em>as part of the <\/em>Climate Desk<\/a> collaboration.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Along the eastern coast of North America, North Atlantic right whales and boats navigate the same waters, which can get dicey for both. Fully grown, the whales can top out at more than 15 meters and weigh nearly 64 tonnes. A midsize 18-meter-long pleasure yacht weighs about 36 tonnes and can cost more than US $1-million. \u201cNo mariner wants to collide with a whale,\u201d says Greg Reilly, a retired US Coast Guard officer. \u201cFor obvious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the North Atlantic right whale is particularly vulnerable to boat strikes. Since 2017, the large whales have been increasingly found dead off the eastern United States and Canada, often after getting hit by a vessel. In response, in 2017, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries declared an unusual mortality event<\/a> for the species, which under the Marine Mammal Protection Act<\/a> \u201cdemands immediate response.\u201d<\/p>\n

The whales kept dying. By 2021, only an estimated 340 remained. The next year, NOAA Fisheries proposed changes<\/a> to speed limits that are meant to reduce boat-whale collisions. The proposal would implement a mandatory speed limit of 10 knots (18.5 kilometers per hour) in places where whales are spotted, and, for the first time, impose speed restrictions on many recreational and commercial fishing boats.<\/p>\n

There is strong science documenting the plight of the right whales and the connection between boat speed and deadly collisions. But opposition from industry groups and fishing advocates, as well as potential difficulties with implementation and enforcement, may stall the new rules\u2014if they get approved at all.<\/p>\n

\"sunken<\/a>

In February 2021, a 16.5-meter sportfishing yacht in Florida struck a North Atlantic right whale mother-calf pair. The calf was killed, the mother was severely injured, and the US $1.2-million boat was totaled. Photo by Tucker Joenz\/FWC\/NOAA Fisheries permit #18786<\/p><\/div>\n

According to Kathleen Collins, marine campaign manager at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, a global nonprofit, pushback from the recreational boating sector has already slowed attempts to lower the speed limit. In December, several nonprofits filed emergency petitions with NOAA Fisheries and the US Department of Commerce to enact new speed limits as a placeholder until the full rules could be approved, but in mid-January 2023, the Biden administration rejected the request.<\/p>\n

The petitions didn\u2019t fail because of a \u201clack of scientific understanding of right whales,\u201d Collins says, but because industry groups lobbied lawmakers, primarily out of concerns for their members\u2019 livelihoods. Mike Leonard, vice president of government affairs for the American Sportfishing Association (ASA)\u2014a trade organization representing sportfishing manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, and media\u2014confirmed via email that the group shared concerns about the proposed speed rules with members of the US Congress.<\/p>\n

Another group opposing the proposed rules is the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), which published a letter<\/a> against the amendments and encouraged its members to leave public comments. The RFA\u2019s website says it is a \u201cgrassroots political action organization\u201d meant to protect the rights of recreational fishers; however, its board is made up of boating and fishing industry executives, and it was founded by Bill and Bob Healey, who founded the yacht manufacturer Viking Yacht Company. The current RFA chairman is Bob Healey Jr., the current chairman of Viking Group. The RFA did not respond to an emailed request for comment, and several calls to the group went unanswered.<\/p>\n

NOAA Fisheries says a decision on the proposed changes is forthcoming in 2023. In an email, spokesperson Katie Wagner writes that the agency is \u201cprioritizing efforts to develop effective, long-term North Atlantic right whale vessel strike reduction measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any whale can be the victim of a vessel strike, but North Atlantic right whales are especially vulnerable because they tend to spend time near the coast and at the water\u2019s surface. Hunted to near extinction in the late 1800s by whalers who called them the \u201cright\u201d whales to kill for being such easy targets, the population didn\u2019t recover after whaling was banned in 1971.<\/p>\n

By 1972, the species was listed for protection in the United States under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, with enforcement falling under NOAA Fisheries.<\/p>\n

\"mother<\/a>

The North Atlantic right whale known as Infinity, a first-time mother, swims with her calf in January 2021. Off the coast of the southeastern United States, where vessel strikes are the greatest threat to the whales, efforts have been made to get boaters to slow down. Photo by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission\/NOAA permit #20556-01<\/p><\/div>\n

Gregory Silber worked as the national coordinator of recovery activities for large whales at NOAA Fisheries from 1997 to 2017, following a five-and-a-half-year stint with the Marine Mammal Commission, an independent government agency created by the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972. \u201cAbout 80 to 90 percent of my time was spent on North Atlantic right whales,\u201d Silber says, \u201cbecause of their dire situation.\u201d Right whales are most at risk from entanglement in commercial fishing gear and from being struck by boats. Because of the powerful fishing lobby and the complexity of the entanglement issue, Silber says, he felt his best bet was to focus on vessel strikes.<\/p>\n

The first paper to raise the possibility that speed may influence boat-whale collisions was published in 2001<\/a>. The researchers scoured the historical record to detail 58 documented cases of ships hitting great whales. They found that the most lethal and severe collisions tended to occur when the ship was moving 26 kilometers per hour or faster and that more often than not, the whale was not spotted beforehand. How exactly speed played a role wasn\u2019t clear, Silber says, but the paper inspired him to look into the issue himself.<\/p>\n

In 2005, Silber and a colleague, Richard Pace, analyzed data from more recent whale-ship collisions. The duo found that the probability<\/a> of a strike killing or seriously maiming a whale increased dramatically with speed\u2014a 50 percent risk at about 19 kilometers per hour jumped to a 90 percent risk at just over 31 kilometers per hour. And boats traversing North Atlantic right whale territory tended to travel between about 19 and 37 kilometers per hour. Silber had seen enough: it was time to set speed limits.<\/p>\n

Off the coast of the southeastern United States, where vessel strikes are the greatest threat to North Atlantic right whales (entanglement is the bigger issue in the north, due to lobster fishing), the International Fund for Animal Welfare and other organizations educate the maritime community and local governments about right whales in an effort to get boaters to slow down. In 2008, NOAA Fisheries successfully enacted mandatory speed limits of 10 knots (18.5 kilometers per hour) in so-called seasonal management areas, where boats must slow down at certain times of the year, and voluntary slow-downs in dynamic management areas, which are created by NOAA Fisheries where three or more right whales have been spotted and last for 15 days.<\/p>\n

But compliance can be low. In a 2021 report<\/a>, the nonprofit Oceana analyzed vessel speed data from 2017 to 2020 and found that only about 10 percent of boats stayed within the limit in mandatory zones, and 15 percent did so in voluntary zones. These rules apply only to boats at least 19.8 meters in length, which are mainly shipping vessels. According to NOAA Fisheries, the 2008 rule served as a model for other nations, such as Canada, to implement rules of their own. Spain, New Zealand, and Panama have also enacted either mandatory or voluntary speed limits.<\/p>\n