Increased Regulations Introduced To Protect North Atlantic Right Whales

The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is taking more steps to protect North Atlantic Right Whales.

Marc Garneau announced yesterday, more efforts will be made to slow ships down and areas where speed restrictions are in place will be widened.

There will also be more frequent aerial surveillance and more funding initiatives to enhance marine mammal response.

Surveillance flights by Transport Canada have been increased to two per day or 14 per week, while the number of Fisheries and Oceans Canada flights has risen from five to ten.  This will continue until at least July 15th.

Investments of $1.2 million will be made in 2019 to help further advance the Marine Mammal Response program. This is part of a $4.5 million commitment.

Six North Atlantic Right Whales have been found dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence so far this year.

This is the third consecutive year that the Government of Canada has implemented measures to help protect North Atlantic right whales

Specific additional measures include:

1. Increasing surveillance conducted by both Transport Canada’s National Aerial Surveillance Program and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to triple the number of overflights. Since June 29, Transport Canada has increased flights from two a week to now up to two per day, or 14 flights per week weather permitting, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada has recently increased weekly flights from five to 10. This intense pace of surveillance coverage, which is now underway, will continue until at least July 15, and the results will be used to determine the plan for increased surveillance for the rest of the season, and any further measures required to protect the whales.
2. Expanding the current slowdown zone further east. This includes an expansion of the current slowdown zone where vessels are required to travel at 10 knots throughout the season, and a new slowdown shipping lane where vessels will be required to slow down to 10 knots when a North Atlantic right whale is spotted in the area.
3. Expanding the application of the mandatory speed restrictions to any vessel over 13 metres long. Previously, mandatory speed restrictions were only put in place for vessels 20 metres or longer.
4. Dividing the mandatory slowdown zone into northern and southern zones so that, in the case of adverse weather conditions, for safety reasons, the mandatory speed limit would be temporarily lifted only in the affected zone (not the entire slowdown zone). In other words, temporarily increasing speed due to adverse weather conditions will only affect a smaller geographic area.
5. Adjusting the trigger for fisheries closures so that if one or more right whale is observed anywhere in the Gulf of St Lawrence (including around Anticosti Island, the Cabot Strait, as well as the Straight of Belle-Isle) the area of the sighting will close for 15 days for non-tended fixed-gear fisheries. Major fixed-gear fisheries in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence were closed for the season on June 30, 2019. Although some fisheries remain open, the scale of fixed gear fishing activity will decrease significantly.
6. Investing $1.2 million in 2019 as part of a $4.5 million commitment over four years to further enhance the Marine Mammal Response Program, which responds to marine mammals in distress, including disentanglement of North Atlantic right whales. This funding is part of the $167.4 million Whales Initiative in Budget 2018.
7. Providing new funding to further advance protection of the North Atlantic right whale. As part of the historic $1.3 billion Nature Legacy Initiative (Budget 2018), the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk will be providing over $5 million over the next four years towards six projects to help safeguard these whales.
8. Funding two additional projects under the Habitat Stewardship Program to mitigate risks and support conservation. In partnership with the Canadian Whale Institute, the Government of Canada is funding a project for monitoring and stewardship toward new and effective risk mitigation for right whales in Atlantic Canada.
9. Expanding the slowdown buffer zone. When the interim precautionary slowdown is lifted in the shipping lanes, the buffer around the shipping lane will be doubled from 2.5 to 5 nautical miles. If a right whale is spotted in the buffer zone, the speed restrictions in the shipping lane will be triggered.