Right whales : fishing closures and new technologies for crabbing industry

The Acadian Crabbers Association will receive funding of over $2 million over three years to test new fishing techniques that might help lower the risk of right whale entanglements. The crabbing industry, a fishery that many coastal communities depend on for their livelihood, involves the use of huge quantities of rope. Because they spend a great deal of time foraging at the surface, right whales are particularly at risk of finding themselves ensnared in these ropes.

Right whales now visit the Gulf of St. Lawrence in large numbers, which was not the case a decade ago. They are believed to be in search of new food sources, as copepods have become less plentiful in their traditional feeding grounds in the Bay of Fundy.

Protective measures were hastily introduced in 2017, then renewed the following year. In 2018, not a single right whale carcass was found in Canada. Is this proof that the imposed restrictions are effective? It’s hard to say. “What we do know is that these efforts will have to be maintained for several years,” explains Robert Michaud in an interview with Radio-Canada. The longevity of right whales and the long intervals between births mean that the results of any conservation measures will take time to become apparent.