Enlarged Atlantic
Fishing Area Could Further Imperil Right Whales
By
Sarah Okeson
Donald Trump likes scallops, ordering
the seafood for Chris Christie even though the former governor of New Jersey is
allergic to them, but a new fishing map that benefits
scallop fishermen could push the endangered North American right
whale into extinction.
Trump regulators
opened about 3,100 square miles of ocean to fishing for scallops and fish that
live near the bottom of the ocean such as halibut and flounder that had been
closed for more than two decades, including a section of Georges Bank off
Cape Cod, Mass., and part of the ocean near southern New England.
Environmentalists say
the National Marine Fisheries Service, overseen
by Chris Oliver, failed to follow
the Endangered Species Act to
protect right whales despite published research from its own scientists that
showed the move could harm right whales.
“The officials charged with protecting this species appear willing to misrepresent the facts and the science to both the court and the public because they’re hellbent on doing nothing that might save right whales from extinction,” said Erica Fuller, an attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation which sued over the fishing map.
A nonprofit that
supports government whistleblowers, Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility, has asked the Commerce
Department to investigate alleged lies or misrepresentations made by NMFS
officials in the lawsuit.
The right whale got
its name because it was the “right” whale to hunt because it is slow
moving and floats after being killed. About 400 right whales, including
95 breeding females, migrate between Florida and Canada. The population has
declined by about 20% since 2010.
Ten right whales have
been found dead this year, including a male nicknamed “Snake Eyes” that
was last seen entangled in fishing gear in August in Canadian waters. Deaths
from entanglement or being struck by ships are common.
A scallop fishing
industry group, Fisheries Survival Fund, said no scallop
vessel has ever had an interaction with a right whale. The fund, which spent $290,000 on federal lobbying in
2018, helped develop the new fishing map.
Scallop fishermen
harvested 58.2 million pounds of scallops last
year, the fifth-highest since 1945. The fund claims changing the fishing map to
protect right whales could cost scallop fishermen $140 million to $160 million
a year.
A draft environmental review of the new map
done during the Obama administration said it could increase whale entanglement,
but this language was not in the final environmental impact statement issued
under Trump.
Trump regulators also
ignored published research by their own scientists including a 2017 paper co-authored
by Allison Glass Henry and Peter Corkeron that
said most entangled right whales die within six months to a year if they are
not freed and a 2017 paper co-authored by Frederick Wenzel that
said right whales can be trapped in gillnets.
Trump regulators
apparently chose to rely on a paper co-authored
by Rosalind Rolland that
relied on outdated research and
concluded entanglement in fishing gear has not caused a decline in the health
of large whales, according to PEER.