Feds Tie Right Whale Death to Maine Fishing for the First Time
by Bill Trotter of the Bangor Daily News
MAINE—Federal officials have determined that the fishing rope wrapped around the tail of a dead juvenile right whale that washed up on Martha’s Vineyard last month was from Maine, marking the first time the state’s lobster industry was linked to a whale’s death.
The announcement will likely add new fuel to the push by conservation groups and federal agencies for regulations to prevent the entanglement of whales in fishing gear. Lobstermen have fiercely resisted those efforts, based in part on the lack of evidence that their gear is responsible for whale deaths.
The rope found on the whale on Martha’s Vineyard had purple markings on it that are “consistent” with gear used in Maine’s lobster industry, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday.
A necropsy of the whale on Feb. 1 “confirmed a chronic entanglement, with rope deeply embedded in the tail, and thin body condition,” NOAA officials said. “The necropsy showed no evidence of blunt force trauma.”
North Atlantic right whales are an endangered species with approximately 350 individuals existing in the wild, according to NOAA Fisheries estimates. There are estimated to be around 70 females who can breed.
In Maine, regulations aimed at protecting right whales have come under fire from commercial lobster fishers, who had been asked to use specific gear and adhere to certain zoning regulations to protect the whale. The lobstermen argue that the regulations put undue stress on their industry, even though many fishermen claim not to have seen right whales in Maine waters.
The last confirmed entanglement of a right whale with Maine fishing gear was in 2004, but the whale survived in that case.
In a statement, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association said that it was “deeply saddened” by the recent death of the whale and reiterated that it’s been 20 years since an entanglement was last attributed to the state’s fishery.
“Maine lobstermen have made significant changes to how they fish over the last 25 years to avoid entanglement and continue gear testing,” said the organization’s spokesperson, Kevin Kelley. “The MLA will continue this important work as we review the data and evidence that [NOAA Fisheries] has collected. MLA remains committed to finding a solution to ensure a future for right whales and Maine’s lobster fishery.”
Conservation groups have pushed back on that paucity of evidence that Maine gear is linked to whale deaths, given that it’s traditionally been hard to pinpoint which fisheries are responsible for specific whale deaths. In 2022, new rules required that each state use a specific color marker for their fishing lines. The recent death of the whale found in Martha’s Vineyard was linked to Maine through that color-coded system.
“Entanglements are a constant threat to right whales, cutting their lives short and painting a disheartening future for this species,” said Erica Fuller of the Conservation Law Foundation, in response to the NOAA Fisheries determination. “There have been concerns about the threat Maine fishing gear poses to right whales for years. It’s time to move forward with new fishing practices to give these endangered whales a chance at survival.”
NOAA officials said the full necropsy results are still pending and its investigation of the whale’s death remains open.
Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine Department of Marine Resources, said the finding was “unfortunate.” He said Maine’s goal remains zero entanglements.
“Certainly, this is a rare event, in fact it is the first right whale entanglement with known Maine gear since 2004,” Keliher said.
Keliher said that while the rope sample recovered from the whale indicates it came from Maine’s fishery, it is not clear if the rope was being used in federal waters or in state waters closer to shore.
“Entangling a whale is not something any fishermen wants see or hear about,” Keliher said, adding that Congress has stated in law that the fishery will continue to be considered to be in compliance with the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act until the end of 2028.
Since 2017, the federal government has classified a spike in the number of injuries and deaths of North Atlantic right whales as an “unusual mortality event.”
The whale found dead last month was originally identified as being part of that event in August 2022, when it’s injuries were first spotted. It will now be counted among those that have died. A total of 122 whales have been impacted, with 37 dead, 34 seriously injured and 51 in otherwise poor health, federal officials said.
Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife, said that the Maine lobster industry has insisted for years that its gear does not harm right whales, but now that Maine fishermen have to use rope specific to Maine, “it can no longer hide the truth.”
The right whale was a year and a half old when it was first spotted with the rope wrapped around its tail, she said.
“She likely spent at least half of her short life in excruciating pain,” Davenport said. “We cannot avert our eyes from the fact that entanglements are not only pushing this species to the brink of extinction, but brutalizing whales in the process.”
U.S Rep. Jared Golden said Wednesday that the death of the whale is “unfortunate” but that Maine’s lobster industry is the “backbone” of many coastal Maine communities.
“We have to be real about tradeoffs,” Golden said. “I will continue to stand with Maine’s lobstermen in the face of any effort to use this incident to justify new mandates that would threaten their livelihoods and the foundation of communities that depend on this fishery.”
This story appears through a media partnership with the Bangor Daily News.
Image in lead photo via NOAA, created by Dawn Witherington
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That does not look like purple painted rope. A couple purple spots and a purple zip tie is not the way it is done.