FRUSTRATION GROWING

Federal government rejects proposal for a shallow-water exemption to fishery closures aimed at protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales

A group representing Gulf of St. Lawrence lobster fishermen says frustration is mounting after the federal government rejected its proposal for a shallow-water exemption to fishery closures aimed at protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) says it considered the proposal by the Maritime Fishermen’s Union and the Pecheurs professionnels du Sud de la Gaspesie, but will not exempt waters of up to 10 fathoms — or 18 metres — in depth.

“We felt staying in that depth of water, which is where most of our fishermen are now at this time of year anyways, was a really good compromise,” said Carl Allen, president of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union.

Last week, DFO issued temporary closures to six more grid areas due to the presence of right whales. The move came after six areas were closed to several fisheries as of May 22.

A static closure zone is in place along New Brunswick’s northern coast until June 30, while DFO has been enforcing what are called dynamic management closures that shut down fishing activities for 15 days once a right whale sighting is confirmed.

In an interview Monday, Allen said fishermen are having a hard time understanding DFO’s logic after they were willing to comply with any number of measures, including the use of tracking technology and observers.

“The idea that if a whale slides into a certain quadrant and then they are going to shut the fishery right down to zero feet of water ... is somewhat unacceptable. It’s hard to understand the logic behind it,” said Allen.

He said fishermen know of no instances where right whales ventured into shallower waters of the Gulf at depths from 18 to 36 metres.

But Amy Knowlton, a right whale research scientist with the New England Aquarium, said that’s not strictly the case.

Knowlton has studied the huge marine mammal’s migratory patterns along the eastern North America, including in the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

“We see whales very close to shore in various parts of the East Coast and up in the Gulf, she said.

Knowlton said the whales have been known to feed close to shore and could go through shallower waters when migrating.

“When you have such a high density of right whales up there now, it’s not to say that they would never go into these shallow waters. I think the food might be in the deeper waters, but they could also be meandering around looking for patches or migrating to their next area of food.”