Team recommends reducing lobstering gear to save whales

[Judi Lynn]

Patrick Whittle, Associated Press Updated 4:04 pm CDT, Friday, April 26, 2019

The amount of gear the East Coast lobster fishery puts in the water must be reduced in order to protect a dwindling species of large whale, a federal government team recommended Friday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team wrapped up several days of discussion Friday about ways to reduce injuries and deaths caused when North Atlantic right whales get entangled in fishing gear.

In this decade, the number of North Atlantic right whales has decreased by the dozens to about 411 today.

The team issued its recommendations to the federal government on Friday that call for a reduction of vertical trap lines — which can ensnare whales — by up to 50% in some areas. The team also recommended the use of lines that break more easily and allow the giant whales a chance to escape.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/science/article/New-restrictions-to-protect-rare-whale-expected-13797263.php

[mopinko]

1. how about we help them innovate? grants for new tech

maybe a govt research grant to develop drones that could float the traps.

seems to me we could do a whole lot of good for a reasonable investment of new tech in a lot of these food situations.

when the green new deal draft came out and there was a big to-do about cow farts, msnbc sent a guy to talk to dairy farmers. apparently the whole town of amana iowa is run on the power from an anaerobic digester on one big dairy farm.

i feel like there is so much low hanging fruit out there. we just need to seed it.

[hunter]

2. Various species of farm raised grain fed crayfish might be a good substitute.

Aquaculture must be heavily regulated however to protect fragile aquatic ecosystems from development.

I'm not sure any commercial fishing of wild species is "sustainable" in the 21st century, especially as increasing numbers of people become affluent enough to afford seafood.

Here's an article about red claw crayfish:

https://thefishsite.com/articles/cultured-aquatic-species-red-claw-crayfish

Unfortunately, it's an invasive species, having established feral populations in South Africa, Mexico, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Zambia, and Singapore.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherax_quadricarinatus