Times & Tails

In a recent and concerning discovery, a humpback whale entangled in a rope has been observed in Donegal Bay, Ireland. The Irish Whale And Dolphin Group (IWDG) brought this distressing situation to the attention of the public through their social media channels.

In a monumental achievement, almost 200 nations have forged an unprecedented "high seas treaty" designed to ensure the well-being of marine life in international waters. Emerging after arduous negotiations spanning two decades, this milestone was reached at the United Nations headquarters in New York, culminating in an exhaustive 36-hour session.

The European Union is gearing up to introduce stricter regulations against illegal fishing, following the successful approval of a preliminary proposal by the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee.

An innovative initiative is underway to combat the environmental hazards posed by abandoned fishing gear. Shrimpers and crabbers in Mississippi are being incentivized with payments to retrieve derelict traps, thereby playing a vital role in safeguarding wildlife from the dangers of discarded fishing equipment.

Encouraging news emerges as the gray whale calf count doubles during this year's spring migration, marking a significant improvement from the previous record-low count. NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center reports this promising uptick, suggesting a potential stabilization of the eastern North Pacific gray whale population that had been facing a decline linked to increased strandings. This situation prompted NOAA Fisheries to declare an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) in 2019.

Oregon is taking significant conservation action by extending crab fishing regulations to safeguard humpback whales from getting ensnared in trap ropes. The state's Department of Fish and Wildlife has prolonged measures that reduce the risk of whales becoming trapped in vertical ropes attached to crab traps.

Behind every picture there is a story...this one has quite the journey. This is a complicated picture once you get past the first glance of a full crab trap. For us it represents a year of innovation and all of the highs and lows that go with it. 

Ashored is excited to announce that ATLAS will be available in the Google Apps store. Our most recent software release, Version 2023, is a user-friendly app that allows for trap harvesters to mark the location of their gear deployments, wirelessly interact with Ashored's Rope on Command Gear, and provide seamless cloud backups.

Acoustic detections of whales by hydrophones (underwater microphones), and visual sightings of right whales from vessels and aircraft, will trigger temporary and season-long fishing closures. Please find the closures announced in July in Atlantic Canada. Note: Fishery notices related to North Atlantic right whales