CONTACT:
Cheri Patterson: (603) 868-1095
Doug Grout: (603) 868-1095
July 18, 2019
DURHAM, NH – The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department will be holding a scoping meeting with the lobster fishing industry to present information and discuss options on methods to meet the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team’s consensus on reducing interactions with North Atlantic right whales to prevent serious injury or mortality. The meeting will be held on Thursday, August 1, 2019 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Urban Forestry Center, 45 Elwyn Road, Portsmouth, NH.
The North Atlantic right whale is the world’s most endangered large whale species and is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Their population has been in decline since 2010, which is attributed to both human-induced causes, such as fishing gear entanglements and collisions with ships, as well as low species birth rates. Studies have shown that 85% of the right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once.
This meeting will inform the lobster fishing industry of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team’s consensus decision to reduce risk to the right whales from vertical lines, present possible options to achieve this reduction, and scope other possible options from the New Hampshire lobster fishing industry.