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By Mary Ann BraggCape Cod Times
PROVINCETOWN – The previous Atlanta Atlantic Airplane surveys in Cape Cod Bay and areas just off the bay will start this month, while scientists, wildlife conservationists and government authorities in Canada and the US look ahead to 2019 .
"The general feeling is that whales are still in decline," said Charles "Stormy" Mayo, who runs the right whale research efforts and airplane surveys at the Center for Coastal Studies. But stay calm. A lot will depend on whether we get a real burst of calves. "
This month, the nine organizations have asked the Canadian Fisheries and Oceania Minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, to continue in 2019 the same restrictions for the fixed equipment fishing industry in St. Gulf. Lawrence, which were added this year. Restrictions on snow crab, lobster and other types of fishing are to prevent the whaling of whales in the rope, a primary killer.
Of the 12 deaths in 2017 in St. Gulf, Lawrence – out of a total of 17 in both Canada and the United States – Canadian officials have not reported documented deaths this year.
"In general, we are quite pleased with what the Fishing and the Oceans made in Canada in 2018," said Sarah Uhlemann, a lawyer at the Center for Biological Diversity.
In the letter to Wilkinson, the Center for Biological Diversity, Wildlife Protection, the United States Human Society, the Nature Conservation Foundation, the Council for the Defense of Natural Resources, the Humane Society International / Canada, the Animal Welfare Institute and the International Animal Welfare Fund, are necessary protection.
"What Canada is doing next year and beyond will decide the fate of the whole species," said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, executive director of Whale and Dolphin Conservation, who has an office in Plymouth, Mass.
Organizations have estimated the total number of supporters in Canada and the United States, as in the case of millions of people.
They asked Wilkinson to continue the "static closure" – designated areas in St. Gallen. Lawrence, based on 90% of whale watching the previous year, which are seasonally closed for fishing. Organizations want "dynamic closures" and continued. These closures have occurred in designated whale preservation areas for 15 days if a whale has been seen. Groups also want more areas in 2019 for static and dynamic closures.
Organizations require Canada to continue to ban certain types of floating ropes and to ensure that it applies to all fixed-gear fishing. They want detailed stamping on all types of Atlantic fishing. They want Canada to continue its requirement for the fishing report to record loss of speed, marine mammalian interactions and fair whale observation, and for snow crab fishermen, groups want to see other restrictions such as sea observers and trapping limits.
Finally, the groups want Canada to meet the US requirement for groundwater fishing in Atlantic fixed-gear fisheries. Both in the United States and Canada, groups are trying to completely eliminate the vertical strings between surface buoys and traps by using wheelless technology.
A request for comments from the Marine Fisheries Union of New Brunswick, which represents about 1200 fishermen, was not immediately returned.
"We understand that the Canadian government has held meetings with stakeholders," said Jane Davenport, a defender of Wildlife wealth. Considering "an enormous amount of attacks, for reasons that are very easy to understand, let's see what's going to happen in the future," Davenport said.
Canada's fishing and oceans remain "committed to taking all necessary steps to help reduce the risk of weaving the right whales in the North Atlantic," said Carole Saindon's spokeswoman.
The Agency uses the best available science, together with the contribution of partners, indigenous groups, experts and stakeholders, such as fish harvesters and processors, to prevent whaling and to protect the fishing industry "as much as possible "Saindon said.
In December, the Canadian agency expects to discuss with stakeholders about its findings and then complete the whale protection measures in 2019, she said.
By a new method announced in 2017 to estimate the abundance and the correlated whale population in the North Atlantic, scientists believe that in 2010 they started a serious decline and the females died in greater numbers. Although part of the population growth equation is to reduce the number of deaths, it is equally important to improve birth rates.
Mayo said on Thursday at the end of the annual meeting of the British Consortium on Whaling in the North Atlantic. "We believe that we are in the 400-year low whales, or around 400 whales," currently in existence.
In the coming months, airplane inspectors and scientists will begin to look for the right whale mother and newborn couples off the Florida and Georgia coasts, where hope is that last year's zero will be replaced by 20 or 30 boars this season, Mayo said.
"Usually, if you have a zero in a year, you expect to see an explosion next year because a lot of females will rest," Mayo said. "For me, at least the main number I will examine is the number of calves."
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