However, DFO Says it Will Not Stop Required Fishery Closures
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) recently announced the timeline for harvesters in Atlantic Canada to implement lower-breaking-strength fishing gear has been extended to 2024.
The gear is meant to reduce the severity of entanglement by whales, particularly North American right whales and is designed to break under 1,700 pounds of force.
Alternatively, the department has also pitched ropeless gear as a solution. Examples of ropeless gear are traps that utilize remotely activated float bags to return to the surface, or “rope on demand” gear that stows buoy lines on the sea floor.
According to Brett Gilchrist, Director of National Programs for DFO, the implementation of this gear has encountered issues with safety when fishing with lower-breaking-strength gear that made the extension necessary.
“There’s a lot of concerns with this. There are challenges around safety. So, heavier gear sets, whether it’s offshore lobster or crab gear… Everybody with heavier gear sets are finding that there’s a risk,” said Gilchrist.
“When they’re hauling lower-breaking-strength line or links, there’s always a risk that the rope snaps and there’s an impact on the vessel. It could just be a rogue rope or piece of equipment flying through the hull, but it could also affect the vessel’s stability for smaller vessels.”
Another concern is the shelf life of the gear.
Where a higher-strength gear may last for multiple seasons, rope designed to be weaker will inevitably end up inadvertently breaking faster than rope built to handle higher tensions.
There is also an issue with the supply chain of lower-breaking-strength gear. The United States has already implemented rules around this type of gear and suppliers are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, so the necessary materials are in short supply.
“The U.S. has already implemented this measure. It’s workable for some fisheries there, so it’s being bought up at a fairly quick rate,” said Gilchrist. “We’ve heard back from some of our experts; both industry, Indigenous groups and academic gear expert partners that there would need to be a fairly substantial ramp-up here.”
Gilchrist added that while a lower-breaking-strength gear is a useful tool to reduce mortality rates in whales, DFO’s most useful tool is still fishing area closures.
Given recent gear loss due to Hurricane Fiona, the verdict is still out on how effective of a conservation tool weaker gear would be at striking a balance between reducing entanglements while also keeping lost gear out of the ocean.
“Let’s say weather conditions hit in the middle of the spring where all these sets are in the water. It would be catastrophic. You’ve got aquaculture gear affected by Fiona that was weighted by concrete blocks that moved or had been dislocated, let alone 1,700-pound breaking-strength line. So that was a reminder that we need to be very careful,” said Gilchrist.
“Lower-breaking-strength gear will be something that plays a role in the suite of tools that we have to protect right whales. It’s not a prevention measure, though. It’s a mitigation measure. The whale actually has to become entangled for that to be a valuable tool.”
While 2024 is a goal for the implementation of this gear, DFO is committed to working with harvesters to figure out what works and what doesn’t. A $20-million fund for pilot projects to test the efficacy of this resolution is in place, wherein harvesters can apply for “loaner gear” to help with research into lower-breaking-strength gear.
By 2024, the department has committed to having this whale-safe gear “play a role” in the fisheries, but it may not be the solution that it was once thought to be. Gilchrist explained that given the migration changes in right whale populations, management plans need to constantly adapt to keep these endangered animals out of harm’s way.
“The most important part, I think, of our right whale protection program in Canada — in fact, sets us apart a little bit from some of the other jurisdictions — is that we really don’t know what’s happening with the right whale population,” said Gilchrist.
“It’s had a major shift in its distribution that we haven’t seen historically. For example, showing up in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in large numbers — about 140 a year — just didn’t happen prior to 2017. So, we need to be able to evolve not every five years with our management plan, but every year if needed.”
