Most vessels obeying speed
OTTAWA — Almost 90 per cent of the ships that passed through the Gulf of St. Lawrence over the last five months complied with an emergency speed limit to help protect the whales that plied those same waterways —— and the department will reimpose the limit immediately if the whales return this year.
In August, Transport Canada imposed a limit of 10 knots on all ships longer than 20 metres after a dozen right whales were found dead in the Gulf, a 240,000—square kilometre area that ties the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean via the Cabot Strait and the Straight of Belle Isle.
In seven cases where the cause of death is known, five whales were killed by ships and two drowned after being caught up in fishing gear.
Transport Canada says there were 4,711 ships affected by the speed limit in the Gulf between Aug. 11 and Jan. 11, when the speed limit was lifted. Of those, 542 were found by the Canadian Coast Guard to be moving faster than 10 knots.
Further investigation resulted in 14 ships being fined — all of them the minimum $6,000. Evidence was insufficient to levy fines in 450 cases. There are 78 cases still pending.
Sonia Simard, director of legislative and environmental affairs for the Shipping Federation of Canada, said factors like currents and waves can have an impact on a ship's speed at any given moment and have to be factored into a decision to levy a fine.
In total, 17 right whales died last summer off the east coasts of Canada and the United States, a significant loss for one of the most endangered species in the world. There are believed to be just 451 right whales left in the world.
Their presence in the Gulf of St. Lawrence hasn't been tracked well until recent years, but scientists believe the whales are spending a lot of time there, with more than 100 spotted in the Gulf last summer.
In addition to the speed limit there were restrictions placed on some fisheries to try and keep whales from getting caught up in their lines.
Delphine Denis, spokeswoman for Transport Minister Marc Garneau, said the department is working on plans to mitigate human impacts on the whales both for this year and the long term.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and will not hesitate to impose the speed restriction again if the whales migrate back to the area,” Denis said.