Government officials determined that the rope entangling a dead right whale found last month on Martha’s Vineyard came from a Maine fishery, per an announcement Wednesday from NOAA Fisheries.
“Based upon our analysis of the gear, including the purple markings on the rope recovered from North Atlantic right whale #5120, NOAA Fisheries has concluded that the rope is consistent with the rope used in Maine state water trap/pot buoy lines,” read a statement from the agency, noting it consulted with New England state partners.
A Maine official confirmed some of NOAA’s findings.
“I along with key policy, science, and enforcement staff went to Gloucester, MA to inspect the gear, review NOAA findings and question them regarding any discrepancies we saw,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher in a statement Wednesday. “Unfortunately, the gear is consistent with Maine trap/pot gear.”
Entanglement is one of the two leading causes of injury and death for endangered North Atlantic right whales. Sources of entanglement include fishing gear (commercial or recreational) from the United States or Canada.
Until recently, it was difficult to tell what fishery or country the rope came from, said Erica Fuller, general counsel at the Conservation Law Foundation.
But in 2020, Maine passed a regulation requiring lobster fishermen to mark their gear. Subsequently, NOAA Fisheries started requiring lobster and Jonah crab fisheries to mark their lines as part of the agency’s larger effort to reduce injuries and deaths of whales from fishing gear entanglements.
In state waters, Massachusetts fishermen must mark their fishing lines in red; New Hampshire in yellow; Rhode Island in silver or gray; and Maine in purple.
NOAA Fisheries published a few photos of the rope recovered from #5120 that show what appear to be parts of a purple zip tie.
For lines in federal waters, the states have to add a second color; for Maine, it’s a set of purple and green markings.
A NOAA Fisheries spokesperson said other large whale entanglement incidents have been documented with Maine lobster gear since they started marking their gear.
This includes a humpback whale that was disentangled from Maine fishing gear in federal waters (marked with purple and green), two dead minke whales in rope with purple marks, and two disentangled minke whales in rope with purple marks, per NOAA Fisheries.
“I think we’re really fortunate we got a piece of rope with a marking. To get a purple one was huge in terms of identifying the fishery,” said Fuller. “It really should end any debate about the danger that the fishery poses to whales. This whale might be the one that changes the paradigm.”
Keliher said no buoy was collected with the rope, which could help identify the gear’s owner and a more precise location of entanglement. Keliher also noted his department has not concluded whether the gear is from state or federal waters.
“With only two purple marks retrieved and portions of the surface system missing, Maine DMR analysis of the recovered gear could indicate different gear configuration scenarios, some of which suggest state waters and others which suggest federal waters,” he said. “We are continuing to investigate to see if we can better answer this question.”
Earlier this month, NOAA Fisheries announced investigators’ preliminary finding: the whale, #5120, suffered from chronic entanglement. The young whale was first reported with rope around her tail in 2022 in Canada, when she was only a year old and not yet fully grown. She was sighted again entangled in Cape Cod Bay in 2023. Attempts to disentangle her were unsuccessful.
The young whale’s death fueled speculation and misinformation from offshore wind opponents about the rope found entangled near her tail.
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Per NOAA Fisheries, #5120’s official cause of death remains pending.
The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) in an email statement said it was saddened by the death of the right whale that has “apparently been attributed to the Maine lobster industry.”
“This is the first reported entanglement of a right whale in Maine lobster gear in 20 years and the first death attributed to the fishery,” the statement read. “Maine lobstermen have made significant changes to how they fish over the last 25 years to avoid entanglement and continue gear testing. The MLA will continue this important work as we review the data and evidence that NMFS has collected.”
“MLA remains committed to finding a solution to ensure a future for right whales and Maine’s lobster fishery,” the statement concluded.
Gib Brogan, a campaign director at ocean conservation nonprofit, Oceana, said the news about the rope’s source was not surprising.
“We’ve known for years that where whales and rope interact, there is the possibility that entanglements will occur,” he said. “There’s a lot of rope in Maine, and there are whales in Maine waters.”
Both Fuller and Brogan called on government officials to do more to protect the right whales from fishing gear in light of this finding. An estimated 360 right whales remain.
NOAA Fisheries in 2022 was precluded by the Maine delegation from placing stronger regulations on the lobster industry. The federal agency cannot enforce new restrictions until 2029, National Fisherman reported.
It’s a reality Keliher noted: “This news will [undoubtedly] also [bring] with it a fear and anxiousness around what could come next from NOAA. It is important to point out that while terrible news, it doesn’t change the fact that Congress has stated in law that this fishery is in compliance with the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act until December 31, 2028.”
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
