Misa-line-ing whale protection
As a federally appointed member of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team, WDC has worked for the past several years to help develop a plan that would reduce the amount of vertical line in the water column, thereby reducing the risk of entanglement to North Atlantic right whales by commercial fisheries. We were pleased when the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the agency charged with implementing these regulations, announced that this new rule will be released this coming July. So imagine our surprise when we heard that this same agency is proposing to allow an increase in fishing effort, and vertical lines, in the only known calving area for the right whales!
While they may be confused, we are not. With our conservation partners, we have told the NMFS, in no uncertain terms, that increasing risk to right whales is unacceptable!