The Edge of Extinction: Protecting North Atlantic Right Whales

North Atlantic right whales are in crisis. According to the latest estimates, there are only around 360 of these creatures left.1 The biggest threats to their survival are vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. And without continued Canadian intervention, these animals will not survive. At least 32 right whales have died in the last four years, 21 of them in Canadian waters. To protect the remaining right whales from extinction and ensure their recovery, the federal government must develop stronger management measures to mitigate the threats they face. In February 2020, Transport Canada announced a trial voluntary slowdown in the Cabot Strait to protect right whales from vessel strikes. From April 28 to June 15 and again from October 1 to November 15, vessels longer than 13 metres were asked to slow down to 10 knots. Oceana Canada assessed how effective this measure was by tracking the speed of vessels during their transits through the Strait in the spring and the autumn using data from Global Fishing Watch, an independent, non-profit organization. The results were disappointing. During the 95 days when the voluntary slowdown was in place, two-thirds of vessel transits failed to stick to the 10-knot slowdown. More than 40 per cent exceeded 12 knots, significantly increasing the risk of inflicting a potentially lethal injury to a right whale. As critically endangered right whales are declining toward extinction, Oceana Canada is calling on Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to take the following actions to further protect them : • Change the current voluntary Cabot Strait slowdown to make it a mandatory, season-long measure. • Extend speed restrictions throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence to all vessels, including those less than 13 metres. • Increase transparency and understanding of fishing fleet movements by releasing all Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data publicly and to Global Fishing Watch. • Reduce the amount of fishing rope in the water through continued long-term support for ropeless gear. • Expand the development and use of a comprehensive array of technologies (acoustic, satellite, infra-red, etc.) to monitor right whales — and then use the resulting data to better understand their movement and to trigger slowdowns and fisheries closures when required. • Secure long-term funding for necropsy work so that teams can build their capacity, respond quickly and conduct the most thorough analysis possible