Peer reviewers (from left) included Steve Katona, president of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, Andy Read of Duke University Marine Lab, Randy Reeves of Okapi Wildlife Associates, Daryl Boness of the Smithsonian National Zoo, and Lloyd Lowry of the University of Alaska. Photo by J. Hain, Associated Scientists at Woods Hole

A peer review panel convened by the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission (MMC) met during March in Wood Hole, Mass. to evaluate the current status of, and the protection plan for, Northern right whales in the Northwest Atlantic.

The review is part of a larger project that started in 2004, when Congress tasked the Commission with reporting on the biological viability of the nation’s most endangered marine mammals and the cost-effectiveness of the programs to protect them. The MMC chose the Northern right whale for a case study in the report. The full report is expected in the late fall.

Virtually all of the scientists and managers who have researched, monitored, or developed protection measures for these whales over the past two decades made presentations or were at the panel’s disposal for four days. The panel was updated on the current understanding of the population’s size and composition, and trends in growth. They also heard about programs to acquire more information on these whales, and those for mitigating the two most serious human-caused threats to recovery: entanglement in fixed fishing gear and collisions with ships.

NOAA’s East Coast Disentanglement Team at work off North Carolina in 2005. Maintaining and deploying these teams is one of many ways NOAA is using the federal resources to reduce harmful effects on right whales. Photo by NOAA/NMFS

Other whale researchers were also out in force as presenters and participants representing NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the New England Aquarium, the University of Rhode Island, the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Florida State University, Cornell University, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Associated Scientists at Woods Hole.

Jerry Conway of DFO Canada spoke to the panel about his country’s work to protect species of concern, including Northern right whales. Photo by J. Hain, Associated Scientists at Woods Hole

Richard Pace, from NEFSC’s Protected Species Branch, explains his work to better understand the population dynamics of Northern right whales. Photo by J. Hain, Associated Scientists at Woods Hole

Northern right whales also spend a good deal of the year in Canadian waters. Tim Frasier from Trent University was a participant, and Jerry Conway, from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, was a presenter. Conway serves a function similar to that of the NMFS regional office staffs, managing stranding responses and the regulatory and policy issues surrounding whale protection in Northeastern Canada.

“I’ve found this very interesting,” said Conway of the review meeting, “We are the new kids on the block in a lot of respects and I think the conservation issues we will soon face will be many of the same ones being discussed here.” He said he was cautiously optimistic about prospects for right whale recovery. “People are paying attention, they’re concerned, and they are trying to do things that will help.”

Panelists also heard from the people who are closest to ongoing efforts to change fishing practices and vessel operations in ways that will curb injuries and deaths among Northern right whales. David Gouveia, Diane Borggaard, Kristen Koyama, and Glenn Salvador of the NMFS Northeast Regional Office, and Barbara Zoodsma from the Southeast Regional Office presented regional efforts such as fishing restrictions and gear modifications.

Michael Payne, Teri Rowles, and Greg Silber from the NMFS Office of Protected Resources in Silver Spring, Md., presented updates on coastwide efforts such as the ship strike reduction strategy, marine mammal stranding response, and the East Coast disentanglement network.

“I am a firm believer in ‘the more minds the better,’” said Gouveia of the proceedings. “Anytime you can get a group like this together to discuss a high-profile and contentious issue such as right whales, I think you walk away with a better understanding of how complex and difficult it is to manage a resource with so few numbers and so little information concerning how and where entanglements and ship strikes occur. ”

Panel member Katona was also optimistic about prospects for Northern right whales. “Of all the species, some might think that this one has the least viability and is the most expensive to recover,” said Katona during a break in the meeting. “But I think that recovery is viable if the Service will speedily take the actions they have suggested."

Posted April 26, 2006