Whale Entanglements
Current fixed-gear fishing methodologies involve buoys on the ocean surface tethered to traps (or trawls of traps) on the ocean floor, with their tethered ropes close to the surface causing the marine animal entanglements.
North Atlantic Right Whales
140,000 protected marine animals die entangled in fishing gear annually.
83 percent of the North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) population show scars from fishing gear entanglements.
Over half the population of NARW experience multiple entanglements and ultimately perish from these interactions
Trap Loss & Damage
Lost, discarded, and abandoned fishing gear results in 640,000 tons of ocean waste per year, making it the single largest contributing source to ocean pollution
Ghost Fishing
Traps left behind on the ocean floor can continue to “ghost-fish” for several years.
At current levels, ghost fishing is estimated to kill the equivalent of approximately 4.5 percent of the annual harvest, thus reducing the available catch quotas to accommodate for harvest sustainability.
Whale Entanglements
The Economic Impact
Five hundred and twenty-five fishing grids were closed to fixed gear fishers in Canada because of right whale sightings in 2021. With each whale sighting resulting in a closure lasting a minimum of 15 days, the economic loss facing lobster and crab fishers is harsh and growing.
All non-tended, fixed-gear fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Quebec are required to use whalesafe gear by the beginning of the 2023 fishing seasons.
Before you are pressured by regulators to adopt on-demand fishing gear, you should test it, ask questions, and get comfortable with it—at the end of the day, it’s your boat, your crew, and your livelihood.
Trap Loss & Damage
The Economic Impact
Nine percent of fixed gear is lost annually to propeller damage, storms and currents dragging the buoys to deeper waters where the buoys become submerged, and competitor sabotage.
Fishers bear the costs of replacing their frequently lost gear and the opportunity costs associated with waiting for replacement government tags.
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