The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently solicited comments for its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. Those comments were due by October 11, 2022. The goal of the Take Reduction Plan is to “reduce the level of serious injury and mortality of three strategic stocks of large whales (North Atlantic right, humpback, and fin) in commercial gillnet and trap/pot fisheries.”
The North Atlantic right whale, Georgia’s State Marine Mammal, comes south from New England each winter to calving grounds off our coast. The species is critically endangered, but their population can rebound if we lower human-caused deaths using updated science and fishing technologies. In an effort to reduce serious injury to North Atlantic right whales in the northeast commercial lobster and crab trap/pot fisheries, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of NOAA has proposed rules to amend current regulations.
One such new development that might improve fishing and protect whales is called “ropeless (or buoyless) fishing,” which allows for lobster and crab fishers to continue operating in areas where right whales are present without further endangering these marine mammals. We advocate for NMFS to continue to test and foster a market for ropeless technologies by creating incentives for adoption.
From our October 2022 public comment letter to NOAA:
“Georgia Conservancy fully supports amending the Plan to further reduce mortalities and serious injuries to right whales by including measures that address the urgent need to remove vertical buoy lines from the water in areas that right whales are using for feeding, breeding, and migration…
In addition, particular attention should be paid to on-demand fishing systems (also called ropeless), which allow fixed-gear fishermen to fish within areas closed to traditional fixed fishing gear. NOAA Fisheries must help advance the market for on-demand technologies by streamlining the permitting process for on-demand fishing trials, providing additional opportunities for financial assistance, and leading the industry in conversations around interoperability among on-demand fishing systems.”
Click here to read our comment letter in full.