The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries will receive more than $4.6 million from the U.S. Congress to increase protections for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission funding, plus an additional $475,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, will bolster the development of new fishing gear, and will provide new gear to some lobster fishers.
The fisheries department, according to a press release issued last week, anticipates receiving more than $23 million from NOAA Fisheries between now and the end of 2028.
“We have a special responsibility to help these endangered animals, and to promote innovative measures to support whale recovery and Massachusetts’ important lobster industry,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper is quoted in the release. “Massachusetts’ near-shore waters annually host up to 80 percent of the total population of North Atlantic right whales in late winter and early spring, as the whales migrate north and feed in the nutrient-rich waters of Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay. These funds are particularly beneficial to the small boat fishers who contribute so much to our economy, food security, and heritage of Massachusetts coastal communities.”
Under the U.S. Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, Congress appropriated $25 million to nine Atlantic Coast states from Maine to Maryland to support right whale recovery.
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries plans to allocate $2.8 million for right whale research and monitoring; $1.1 million for on-demand gear research; and $472,000 for lobster gear, to be used by lobster fishers to reduce entanglement risks. The additional $475,000 from the wildlife foundation will look into the costs and benefits of on-demand fishing systems.
The funding is intended to support Massachusetts’ lobster industry as they adapt to regulations under development by NOAA to protect right whales.
Through the grant, the state division of marine fisheries will increase the number of staffers focused on North Atlantic right whale conservation from one to seven.
Also, the department will implement an acoustic monitoring network, and deploy three passive acoustic listening buoys. Working with the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, the division will also increase the number of aerial surveillance flights. The programs are intended to help the division’s understanding of right whale seasonal populations in coastal waters.
DMF will also be expanding outreach to the commercial fishing industry on methods to reduce entanglement injury risk to right whales. This work will include distribution of weak rope and marking supplies to fishers, and the initiation of an on-demand fishing grants program.
Very hypocritical of the federal government.
They’ve issued harassment permits to offshore wind companies that can affect these whales in many ways and now they throw millions of dollars to try to mitigate risks in other areas? How about not putting the turbines smack in the middle of their habitat and migratory patterns?
Massachusetts just received an award for leading the way with whale safe gear implementations within the lobster industry.
We’ve done enough! Implementing “Ropeless” lobster gear technology is NOT and will NEVER be a feasible option for any lobsterman, for many reasons.
How have the wind turbines impacted the whales?
Drill rigs?
Production platforms?
Pipe lines?
Tankers?
Leaks?
It’s feasible for lobsters.
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