Ottawa orders ships to slow down for St. Lawrence whales

Ten of the endangered mammals have died

POINTE-DU-CHENE, N.B. — The federal government is ordering large vessels to slow down in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, as it tries to protect right whales who frequent the waters.

Ten of the endangered mammals have died in the gulf since early June — at least some after colliding with ships.

Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Transport Minister Marc Garneau went to Pointe-duChene, N.B., Friday to announce immediate temporary measures aimed at preventing further whale deaths. Garneau said vessels of 20 metres or more will be required to slow to 10 knots — or about 19 kilometres per hour — while travelling in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence, from the Quebec north shore to just north of Prince Edward Island. The limits of that zone are subject to change, he said.

“These are reasonable measures to accomplish something very important,” Garneau said. “I think that Canadians and the shipping industry and the fishing industry recognize that this is something most unusual and we need to take measures.”

The measure will be enforced by Transport Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard. Ships that don’t comply with the speed limit will be subject to a financial penalty of up to $25,000.

Smaller ships are being asked to voluntarily abide by the speed limit, which will remain in place until the whales have migrated from the areas of the gulf that pose the most concern.

The measure was designed in consultation with the fishing and shipping industries, which Garneau said have for the most part embraced the conservation effort. “We do realize that there is some impact, but I think the marine industry also recognizes that we are trying to achieve something extremely important,” he said.

Garneau said cruising speeds typically hover around 15 knots, on average, but faster vessels can reach up to 25 knots.

The speed limit is meant to reduce the frequency of ships striking whales, he said.

Federal officials did their “homework” before deciding on the measure, the minister said, including working with their U.S. counterparts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which implemented similar speed restrictions in right whale habitats in 2010.

LeBlanc said the federal government has spent around $360,000 on performing necropsies, akin to animal autopsies, on six whale carcasses. He said the full results of these examinations are expected to be released next month.

Early findings suggest some of the whales died of either entanglements with fishing gear, or from blunt trauma caused by ship collisions.