The Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team will soon meet in Providence, U.S.A. to discuss what efforts are necessary to stop the deaths of right whales.
A string of recent whale deaths has been linked to entanglement in fishing gear and those entanglement deaths have already pushed regulators towards requiring any roped lobster gear to be removed from areas that right whales are known to frequent with month-long fishery bans proposed for certain areas. Proposals to be considered next week could have big impacts, with potential closures of the fishery in the Gulf of Maine south of Cape Elizabeth, Maine during April, reducing the number of traps lobstermen can use and becoming a ropeless fishery by 2020.
Photo Credit: Christin Khan
