Right (as in correct) whale rule

The editors of the Bangor Daily News have taken the wrong position about the new rules for lobster gear to protect right whales (“Right Whale, Wrong Rule,” June 17 editorial). The National Marine Fisheries Service has made the correct choice to protect the most endangered whale in the world from entanglements by requiring all East Coast lobster fishermen to use sinking ground line between pots.

The editors suggested an alternative to the new rule, expediting new gear, would delay an already overdue response to a critical problem. NMFS has funded numerous studies and research projects that have provided critical information necessary to make an informed decision.

Diane Borggaard and David Gouveia have done yeomen’s work collecting and reviewing information and they are to be commended for running such an open process. The decision was not made lightly or blindly. The decision is not aimed at the lobster industry; it is aimed at saving whales from entanglement. Yes, Maine lobstermen are affected more than some other states but the answer to their problem is not to fight the decision that is best for the whales. The industry should be seeking ways to adapt to the decision with help from the federal government.

NMFS has collected a great deal of information. Lobster lines are strong. Today, with synthetic lines, whales have little chance of breaking the line and once entangled the inert chemicals used to make the line will last for years. A recent analysis by the New England Aquarium of scars on right whales concluded that 72 percent of the known right whale population had been entangled seriously enough to cause scarring. Eight documented right whale deaths have occurred in the past 16 months, an unprecedented event – one of those eight died from a chronic entanglement and four died from ship strike. This, however, only reflects documented carcasses. A substantial number of animals in this population have disappeared and are presumed dead – several of those animals had been severely entangled when last sighted.

A ship-struck whale tends to float for some time after death while a chronically entangled whale can become emaciated and succumb to infection and tends to sink upon death. There is clear evidence that some of those severe entanglements occurred in lobster gear. There are probably many more entangled whale deaths than are documented.

Lobstermen want low-profile rope use everywhere. Scientists know right whales feed so near the bottom that they could get caught in this type of line. Right whales feed on dense patches of zooplankton (microscopic animals) – mainly calanoid copepods and juvenile euphasiids. Dense patches of zooplankton have been shown to form over sandy bottoms but the patches do not necessarily stay there. The zooplankton drifts at the mercy of the currents and can be found anywhere. There is no evidence that the whales only feed over sandy bottoms. Quite the contrary, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that right whales are opportunistic feeders and take the copepods wherever they find them, which may include over rocky bottoms. Low-profile rope everywhere is unacceptable because right whales feed near the bottom in many different situations.

NMFS analysis suggested that requiring sinking ground line would encourage fishermen to fish more inshore and to use single lines on all pots. These points did not outweigh the need to reduce entanglements by the best method currently available. The industry would probably not be affected by an increased cost of the ground line either. The increase could easily be passed on to the consumer. Few people feed their families with lobster.

The question is not an “either-or” question. The good decision by NMFS to require sinking ground line to take an important step toward reducing the risk of entanglement is the right decision to help facilitate the recovery of the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The question now is how to help the lobster industry adapt and manage the new rule.

All the fishermen and fisherwomen I have talked to want no harm to come to the whales. At the same time, however, they want to protect their jobs and families. I do believe, however, there are other solutions to the dilemma than rejecting the new rule.

NMFS and Olympia Snowe should work together to facilitate the Maine lobster industry’s adaptation to the new rule. Changing the rule is the wrong thing for the protection and recovery of the whales. But joining with the lobster industry to help the fishermen is exactly the right thing to do. Sen. Snowe could seek funding for an initial gear changeover program and seek subsidies for sinking line production to keep future costs low and reasonable.

We all should work to restore the funding that President Bush has proposed to be cut from the right whale effort (50 percent). Not only will survey efforts, which help ships avoid hitting right whales, be in jeopardy, but also the research for more acceptable types of line for lobster fishing will suffer greatly. This proposed budget cut is exactly the opposite of what is needed for both the lobstermen and the whales right now.

There are solutions to this dilemma and because of NMFS’ sincere effort we are closer to a solution than your editorial would have us believe. Let’s roll up our sleeves and work together to protect an endangered species and a vulnerable industry all at the same time.

Bill McWeeny is the facilitator of The Calvin Project at Adams School in Castine. The CALVIN Project seeks to help endangered species recovery through education.