The Department of Fisheries and Oceans refused a request by the Maritime Fishermen’s Union to fish closer in to shore because of protocols adopted to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale.
Director General of Fisheries Resource Management Adam Burns explains.
“The approach that we’ve taken this year is one of really trying to minimize as much as possible, the interaction of right whales with fishing gear, and to avoid having those two things interact at all,” says Burns.
Burns says while they recognize the impact these closures have on fishermen, processors, and communities, he warns the long term economic risks of not protecting these whales is greater.
He goes on to say there are observations of North Atlantic right whales “coming up to very shallow water, they’re obviously not aware of what the water depth is, and they’re going to be chasing the food.”
Burns says “if the food ends up being in shallow waters, then that is where they may go.”
Director of Marine Mammal Science at DFO Jean Landry says right whales can live, eat, and swim at different depths.
“It may happen also to their precise situation, for example, a mother and the calves may be more susceptible to be in shallow water,” says Landry. “They are chasing food, and they may explore shallow water areas as well.”
But overall, Landry says “it’s clear that right whales can be in water shallower than 10 fathoms.”
Landry says based on information from their American partners, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 75 individual right whales have been identified in Canadian waters this year.
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(Photo Credit: DFO/Canadian Whale Institute)
