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https://theconversation.com/lobsters-versus-right-whales-the-latest-chapter-in-a-long-quest-to-make-fishing-more-sustainable-196130>
"Maine lobster fishermen received a Christmas gift from Congress at the end of
2022: A six-year delay on new federal regulations designed to protect
critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.
The rules would have required lobstermen to create new seasonal nonfishing
zones and further reduce their use of vertical ropes to retrieve lobster traps
from the seafloor. Entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with many types
of ships are the leading causes of right whale deaths.
Maine’s congressional delegation amended a federal spending bill to delay the
new regulations until 2028 and called for more research on whale entanglements
and ropeless fishing gear. Conservationists argue that the delay could drive
North Atlantic right whales, which number about 340 today, to extinction.
This is the latest chapter in an ongoing and sometimes fraught debate over
fishing gear and bycatch – unintentionally caught species that fishermen don’t
want and can’t sell. My research as a maritime historian, focusing on disputes
tied to industrial fishing, shows the profound impacts that particular fishing
gear can have on marine species.
Disputes over fishing gear and bycatch have involved consumers, commercial
fishermen, recreational anglers and environmentalists. With conservation pitted
against economic livelihoods, emotions often run high. And these controversies
aren’t resolved quickly, which bodes poorly for species on the brink."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
