Seafood Watch public comment period now open:…

Feb. 7, 2022

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program released for public comment 14 draft assessments of Canadian and U.S. fisheries using gear that pose risks to the survival of the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The public comment period will be open until February 28, 2022.

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program regularly updates its fisheries and aquaculture assessments to reflect current science-based information and ensure fisheries and aquaculture are harvested in ways that protect the ocean and secure a long-term supply of seafood. As such, the program has updated assessments of a number of Canadian and U.S. fisheries found to pose risk to the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Those draft assessments are available for public comment until February 28, 2022.

The North Atlantic right whale is an endangered species at extremely high risk of extinction, according to numerous scientific experts, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium (NARWC), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Data show that:

Fewer than 360 North Atlantic right whales exist today—and their numbers are decreasing every year (Pettis et al. 2021).
Entanglement in fishing gear is the leading cause of injury and death to North Atlantic right whales (Hayes et al. 2021, NOAA).
Over 80 percent of North Atlantic right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once (Knowlton AR, Hamilton PK, Marx MK, Pettis HM, Kraus SD 2012).
Fishing gear entanglement can cause substantial health issues for female whales that could impact their reproduction rates, putting further pressure on population numbers (Robbins et al. 2015, Pettis et al. 2017, Rolland et al. 2017, van der Hoop et al. 2017, Hayes et al. 2018a, Hunt et al. 2018, Lysiak et al. 2018, Christiansen et al. 2020; NOAA).
For the North Atlantic right whale population to recover, the average number of whales injured or killed by human-related activity must be less than one whale (0.8) per year (Hayes et al. 2021). This number has been exceeded almost every year since 1995 (NOAA).
The U.S. and Canada have taken different management approaches to reduce the risks from their fishing fleets (NOAA, Fisheries and Oceans Canada). However, NOAA analysis indicates that the cumulative fishing mortalities and serious injuries to North Atlantic right whales will continue to exceed levels necessary for population recovery, a trend it predicts will persist until 2030 (NOAA).

After reviewing the available science-based information, Seafood Watch updated 14 of its assessments, which resulted in draft red ratings for gear types of concern, notably pots, traps, and gillnets. The draft red ratings are driven by the risk to the North Atlantic right whale and the ineffectiveness of management measures to address this risk (Criterion 2 and Factor 3.2, respectively, of the Seafood Watch Standard for Fisheries). According to Seafood Watch’s standards, fisheries or aquaculture with a red rating have a high risk of causing harm to other marine life or the environment.

Learn more about Seafood Watch’s transparent, scientific assessment process and how the program develops its ratings.

Update

Given requests from Canadian and U.S. stakeholders for more time to provide information and feedback, we are extending the public comment period on these draft assessments through March 28, 2022. We will be gathering all feedback in writing during this public comment period.

About Monterey Bay Aquarium

With a mission to inspire conservation of the ocean, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is the most admired aquarium in the United States, a leader in science education, and a voice for ocean conservation through comprehensive programs in marine science and public policy. Everything we do works in concert to protect the future of our blue planet. More information at MontereyBayAquarium.org.