Whale Avoidance Guide Translated into Russian
A popular guide to help fishermen and other mariners avoid conflicts with the endangered North Pacific Right Whale has been translated into Russian in hopes mariners on their side of the Bering Sea will also “Just Say Nyet” to whale encounters.
“While there’s no history of Right Whale strikes or other conflicts with our fishermen,we all want to leave these endangered species alone and this guide has helped on our side of the Bering Sea,” said Thorn Smith, a MCA board member and who help create the guide. “Now that it’s being translated into Russian, our comrades on the opposite shore will have the same information on how to avoid them and that translates into better protection for Right Whales.”
The guide was first published last year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Marine Conservation Alliance (MCA) and distributed to thousands of commercial fishermen and other mariners in the North Pacific. It includes a map of all known sightings of the Right whale in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska and photos of how to identify a Right Whale from a Humpback or Grey Whale.
The guide also includes recommendations on what fishermen should and shouldn’t do if they encounter a Right Whale such as take your vessel out of gear, leave the area at a slow, safe speed ASAP, and report all sightings. It proved so useful that copies of the guide were requested by the U.S. Coast Guard, the University of Alaska, and the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward, among others.
The slowly swimming Right Whale feeds at or near the surface and shows little instinct to avoid vessels. Hunted to near extinction in the 19th century, fewer than 100 Right Whales are known to exist today making them one of the most endangered whales in the world. They’ve been under international protection since 1934 but have not recovered.
“These are some of the most endangered great whales in the world. Numbers now seem to be increasing slowly, and the fishing fleet has responded voluntarily to do their part to protect these whales and give them a chance to recover” said David Benton, Executive Director of the MCA.
While sightings have been few and far between in recent years, the Right Whales are known to feed off of Kodiak Island and in the eastern Bering Sea, prompting a proposal to designate critical habitat in both areas. Right Whales have also been sighted off the Kamchatka Peninsula, Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk and other areas that are identified in the Russian language version of the guide.
“These are believed to be different populations of Right Whales but international cooperation is needed to protect these whales over their entire range in the North Pacific and MCA is taking the lead,” said Smith. “Credit is also due to NOAA’s Alaska Fishery Science Center for its help with scientific information and graphic design and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for helping distribute copies of the guide in Russia.”
The WWF operates several programs in Russia and is working with fishermen there to reduce impacts to protected wildlife. MCA is providing the WWF with a n electronic version of the translated guide and funds to have it printed and laminated in Russia for distribution to fishermen there.
It’s the second such partnership between MCA and WWF to address environmental concerns that bridge the Bering Sea. Earlier the two groups collaborated to distribute a Russian language version of a guide on reducing the incidental catch of endangered short tailed albatrosses by longline vessels. The laminated guide has been credited with raising the consciousness of Russian fishermen to the problem and proven steps to reduce it.
Smith unveiled the Russian version of the Right Whale Avoidance Guide at a hearing on Protected Species before the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
The Marine Conservation Alliance is a coalition of seafood processors, harvesters, support industries and coastal communities that are active in Alaska fisheries. The MCA represents approximately 75 percent of the participants in Alaska shellfish and groundfish fisheries and promotes science based conservation measures to ensure sustainable fisheries in Alaska.