A New Hampshire lobster boat and a lobstermen's association have filed a federal lawsuit to stop changes that would decrease the number of traps that can be used.
Lobstermen say new requirements for weak ropes and links, designed to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale, will cause gear loss and injuries.
Biden s decision to restore marine monument off Cape Cod is praised, criticized in Maine pressherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Atlantic Ocean, off the east coast of North America
Threats
Historically considered the “right whales to hunt” due to their slowness and thick blubber layer, right whale populations declined drastically from whaling in the 19th century. By the late 1800s, the North Atlantic right whale was nearly hunted to extinction. In 1935, the League of Nations (governing body before United Nations) banned the hunting of right whales with hopes of giving them a chance to recover.
Today, North Atlantic right whales face a sea of danger as they migrate along one of the most industrialized areas of the ocean: the east coast of Canada and the United States. The two biggest threats against their survival are vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Vessel strikes leave right whales with agonizing injuries that often lead to death within days or weeks. Weighed down by hundreds of pounds of fishing gear, entangled right whales are unable to move freely through the water, feed,
Tue, 01/12/2021 - 5:45pm
“I wear a lifejacket for my own safety, of course, and most importantly, I wear it for my family and loved ones. Fishing is important, and so is coming back safely.” Captain Stefanie Alley, Islesford
From 2000-2016, the Centers for Disease Control charted 204 commercial fishing fatalities from falls overboard. None of the fishermen recovered were wearing a lifejacket, and 108 of the fishermen’s bodies were never found, according to a report of the Lifejacket Project, which was launched to identify solutions and increase fishermen’s interest in wearing lifejackets.
In its recently published, 20-page summary report, the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing chronicles stories from the Lifejackets for Lobstermen Project and provides examples of the fishing community’s interest and engagement with the project.