Ropeless fishing gear: Last chance for the North Atlantic Right Whale?
Hello, this is Ingrid again! This week I am writing about hopeful solutions for protecting the North Atlantic right whale. Photograph credit: Carol Carson The North Atlantic right whale species will go extinct if we have more years like 2017. In 2017, at least 17 North Atlantic right whales were killed, 12 of them in Canadian waters, from entanglements in fishing gear and from ship strikes. At least some of the entanglements that killed right whales in Canada were from whales that got wrapped up in ropes used in the snow crab fishery. In the US, whales are often entangled in ropes used in the lobster fishery. Canadian and US fishermen, politicians, managers, scientists, environmentalists, and the public know the right whales need help ...