Joint initiative to protect world’s most endangered whale
Anchorage, Alaska: Today, at the October meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC), the Marine Conservation Alliance (MCA) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) unveiled a joint initiative to protect the North Pacific right whale, one of the world’s most endangered whales. The MCA is a coalition of seafood industry harvesters, processors and coastal communities from Alaska. The MCA and NOAA are initiating an educational campaign to inform the fishing fleet and the public about right whales and the need to protect them.
“This is a terrific example of proactive work by the fishing industry in support of the world’s rarest whale,” said Dr. Phil Clapham of the National Marine Mammal Laboratory at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
“The population of right whales in the eastern North Pacific is so critical that anything we can do to promote the recovery of this population is urgently needed. Increasing the awareness of the status of this population, as well as the need to avoid future vessel strikes, is certainly a step in the right direction,” said Dr. Doug DeMaster, the head of NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
“Although there have been no documented interactions with eastern stock North Pacific right whales and commercial fishing, the industry is taking steps now to educate the fleet and maintain that solid record,” said Thorn Smith, an MCA board member who spearheaded the effort for the industry.
The already small population of right whales in the eastern North Pacific was devastated by Soviet illegal whaling catches in the 1960’s, bringing it perilously close to extinction. Since 1996 a small number of these whales have been sighted over the central Bering Sea shelf and off Kodiak Island. Some 25 individual whales have been identified, and the total eastern population may be less than 100 – making it the most endangered whale in the world.
North Pacific right whales grow to about 60 feet in length, and adults average 50 tons. The skin is usually black, with white patches on the belly. Right whales have no dorsal (back) fin, and no throat grooves. They have large paddle-like flippers and very broad triangular tails. Their blow is V-shaped, and up to 16 feet high.
Right whales are slow swimmers that sometimes feed at or near the surface. They show little or no instinct to avoid vessels, and tend to roll when they meet an obstacle, which may result in fishing gear entanglement. To date there have been no observed interactions between eastern North Pacific right whales and fishing vessels – no ship strikes, no gear entanglement.
In order to identify and protect the whales, the Marine Conservation Alliance has partnered with the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center to produce the North Pacific Right Whale Guide. The guide provides notice to mariners and federal fishery observers that the whales are highly endangered. It describes the whales, and includes a chart of all sightings since 1941. The guide includes DO’s and DONT’s for captains navigating fishing vessels. On the back it has comparative photographs of right whales, humpback whales, and gray whales to ensure proper identification.
“This is another effort on behalf of the North Pacific fishing industry to be proactive, to get ahead of a conservation issue,” said Dave Benton, Executive Director of MCA. “We wanted to take constructive positive steps to ensure that our oceans are healthy and our industry is managed for long term health and stability of the marine ecosystem.”
Five thousand North Pacific Right Whale Guides will be printed, laminated in plastic, and delivered to vessels fishing off Alaska. Copies may be translated into Russian and Japanese and provided to fleets around the Pacific Rim as well.
For more information:
Mr. Thorn Smith, North Pacific Longline Association
(206) 849-3022
Dr. Phil Clapham, Alaska Fisheries Science Center
National Marine Mammal Laboratory
Tel (206) 526-4037
Fax (206) 526-6615
email: phillip.clapham@noaa.gov
Mr. David Benton, Marine Conservation Alliance
(907) 321-0499