Erin Burke, Dan
McKiernan
The Division of Marine Fisheries’ Protected Species Program is responsible for the conservation and management of protected marine species in Massachusetts waters. The marine mammals and marine reptiles that use Massachusetts waters are covered under the federal Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, as well as the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. Our program seeks to understand the spatial-temporal distribution and habitat-use patterns of these species, with the goal of minimizing threats from human impacts, such as entanglement in fishing gear and vessel collision.
MarineFisheries and the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) have collaborated since 1998 to monitor right whales in Cape Cod Bay Critical Habitat using aerial surveillance and boat-based zooplankton studies. Right whales return each year in late winter/early spring to feed on the abundant zooplankton. Since 2007, the number of right whales observed in Cape Cod Bay each season has risen dramatically. In 2010, 199 individual right whales were documented in Cape Cod Bay and adjacent areas - approximately 50% of the known population!
MarineFisheries also partners with PCCS on large whale disentanglement efforts in our area. In addition, we collaborate with Cornell University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to operate a real-time acoustic listening system for right whales in Cape Cod Bay Critical Habitat. These buoys provide important data about the presence/absence and acoustic behavior of right whales, regardless of daylight and weather conditions. You can follow the detections in Cape Cod Bay at: www.listenforwhales.org
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We were also recently awarded a three-year NMFS grant to conduct leatherback sea turtle research and disentanglement program in Massachusetts waters. Leatherback sea turtles are seasonal visitors to Massachusetts waters, where they feed on abundant jellyfish in the summer months. However, they are known to become entangled in buoylines attached to trap/pot gear. To address this threat, MarineFisheries and our partners, the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies and the University of Massachusetts, will increase our understanding of leatherback turtle behavior and habitat-use in Massachusetts and surrounding areas, and mitigate fishery-related entanglements.
MarineFisheries partners with the Massachusetts Environmental Police and local fishermen to remove any abandoned or non-compliant fishing gear from Cape Cod Bay Critical Habitat. Fishing gear can entangle marine species, causing injury or even death. MarineFisheries mitigates this risk through strict gear regulations designed to minimize the potential for entanglement.
Personnel from MarineFisheries’ Protected Species Program are members of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team, Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Team, and Atlantic Trawl Gear Take Reduction Team. Massachusetts is recognized as a leader in the management of fisheries to minimize harm to endangered species.
Finally, the Commonwealth continues to establish regulations for fixed-gear fisheries in state waters to reduce the risk of entanglement of protected species. In 2007, MarineFisheries became the first and only state to requireyear-round use of sinking groundlines in fixed gear fisheries in all state waters, which reduces the risk of entanglement. We have a variety of other gear modifications and restrictions related to protected species. More details on Massachusetts’ protected species regulations can be found within the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (322 CMR 12:00): http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/commercialfishing/cmr.htm
Past Projects
MarineFisheries has been at the fore-front of investigations into the threat of fixed fishing gear to whales, as well as improvements into the durability and use of gear that reduces the threat of entanglement. The use of sinking groundline reduces the profile of line in the water column, thus reducing the risk of entanglement for large whales. However, sinking groundline has drawbacks for fishermen, who report that it causes more hang-downs, chafes from contact with the ocean floor, and wears out faster than floating line. MarineFisheries and the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association partnered from 2003 - 2009 to study ways to improve the durability of sinking line, thus increasing the lifespan of sinking groundline and reducing the potential for lost gear. The scope of those groundline investigations grew considerably over the life of the project. With an eye on lobstermen’s bottom line, these projects yielded practical results for the industry.
- Use of Gear-Hauling Simulator to Test Durability of Groundline
- Offshore Field-testing of Sinking Groundlines
- Visual and Microscopic Analysis of Rope Damage
- Adjusting the Hauling System to Reduce Rope Damage
- A Study of the Underwater Profile of Lobster Trawl Groundlines using SCUBA
- Scale Modeling of Fixed Gear Buoyline Profiles
- Using Loggers to Profile the Dynamics of Fixed Gear
- Buy-back Program for Floating Groundline
- Use of Sonar to Evaluate Compliance with Sinking Groundline
- Sinking Groundline Discussion Forum
- Field-testing of Polyurethane Sheaves to Reduce Wear on Sinking Groundlines
The following links are especially relevant to Marine Fisheries
Right Whale Conservation & Monitoring efforts:
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ADVISORIES
4/15/2011 - High Risk Area for Right Whales Around Provincetown
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REPORTS ** these files may take a long time to download on slower connections
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of North Atlantic Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay and Adjacent Waters - 2010 - Final Report. Karen Stamieszkin, Laura Ganley,
Charles A. Mayo, Ruth H. Leeney, and Marilyn K. Marx  (2,806 KB) **
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of North Atlantic Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay and Adjacent Waters - 2009 - Final Report. Ruth H. Leeney, Karen Stamieszkin,
Charles A. Mayo, and Marilyn K. Marx (5,457 KB) **
Final Report on a Project Designed to Reduce Damage to Sinking Groundlines by
Adjusting Lobster Gear Hauling Equipment. Richard Allen, Erin Burke, Dan McKiernan and Bonnie Spinazzola. (1,282 Kb)
2007 Cape Cod Bay Ghost Gear Removal Project. Erin Burke. (179 Kb)
Visual and scanning electron microscopy investigation and tensile testing to estimate residual tensile strength of a selection of lobster lines. Tesion Technology International Ltd. for MA Division of Marine Fisheries (1,304 Kb)
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of North Atlantic Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay and Adjacent Waters - 2008 - Final Report. Ruth H. Leeney, Karen Stamieszkin, Nathalie Jaquet,
Charles A. Mayo, David Osterberg and Marilyn K. Marx (10,207 KB) **
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of North Atlantic Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay and Adjacent Waters - 2007 - Final Report. Nathalie Jaquet, Charles A. Mayo, David Osterberg, Cynthia L. Browning and Marilyn K. Marx. (12,658 KB) **
Massachusetts Divison of Marine Fisheries Right Whale Conservation Program: 2006 Projects and Accomplishments. Erin Burke and Dan McKiernan. (1,822 KB) **
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of North Atlantic Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay and Adjacent Waters - 2006 - Final Report. Nathalie Jaquet, Charles A. Mayo, David Osterberg, Owen C. Nichols, and Cynthia L. Browning. (9,054 KB) **
Non-Buoyant Lobster Line Specification. Tension Technology International Inc. for Massachusetts Divison of Marine Fisheries. (42 KB)
Analysis of Non-Buoyant Lobster Lines: New, Used and Machine Tested. Tension Technology International Inc. for Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's Association. (977 KB)
Massachusetts Divison of Marine Fisheries Right Whale Conservation Program: 2005 Projects and Accomplishments. Erin Burke and Dan McKiernan. (1,012 KB) **
Report on 2004 Activities and Action Plan to Protect Northern Right Whales: Implementation of the Commonwealth's Right Whale Conservation Plan Ed Lyman and Dan McKiernan. (6,256 KB) **
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of North Atlantic Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay and Adjacent Waters - 2005 - Final Report. Nathalie Jaquet, Charles A. Mayo, Owen C. Nichols, Moriah K. Bessinger, David Osterberg, Marilyn K. Marx, and Cynthia L. Browning. (6,272 KB) **
Report on 2003 Activities and Action Plan to Protect Northern Right Whales: Implementation of the Commonwealth's Right Whale Conservation Plan Ed Lyman and Dan McKiernan. (79 KB)
Evaluation of the Performance, Characteristics, and Economic Feasibility of Non-Buoyant Rope for Groundlines in the Atlantic Offshore Lobster Fishery. Phase 1: Development of Line Tester and Protocols, and Preliminary Testing of Lines. Ed Lyman, Erin Burke, Dan McKiernan, Richard Allen, Bonnie Spinazzola, and John Kenney (241 kb)
Scale Modeling of Fixed-Fishing Gear to Compare and Quantify Differently Configured Buoyline and Groundline Profiles: An Investigation of Entanglement Threat. Lyman, E.G. and D.J. McKiernan. 2005. TR-22. (1,085 kb) **
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of North Atlantic Right
Whales in Cape Cod Bay and Adjacent Waters - 2004 - Final Report. Charles A. Mayo, Owen C. Nichols, Moriah K. Bessinger, Cynthia L.
Browning, Center for Coastal Studies, and Marilyn K. Marx, and Moira
W. Brown, New England Aquarium. (9,580 KB) **
Surveillance, Monitoring
and Management of North Atlantic Right Whales Cape Cod Bay
and Adjacent Waters - 2003 - Final Report Moira W. Brown,
Owen C. Nichols, Moriah K. Bessinger, and Charles A. Mayo,
Center for Coastal Studies, and Marilyn K. Marx, New England
Aquarium. (7,463 KB) **
A Study of the Underwater
Profiles of Lobster Trawl Ground Lines by Daniel McKiernan,
Michael Pol and Vincent Malkoski, Massachusetts Division of
Marine Fisheries. (332 KB)
Surveillance of North Atlantic Right
Whales in Cape Cod Bay and Adjacent Waters - 2002 - Final
Report by Moira W. Brown and Owen Nichols, Center for
Coastal Studies and Marilyn K. Marx and Jacqueline N. Ciano,
New England Aquarium. (2,722 KB) **
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management
of North Atlantic Right Whales, Eubalaena glacialis, in Cape
Cod Bay, Massachusetts: January to Mid-May, 2001 - Final Report
by Moira W. Brown and Owen Nichols, Center for Coastal Studies
and Marilyn K. Marx, New England Aquarium The figures referenced
in this document are links to the file location of the figures. (781 KB)
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management
of North Atlantic Right Whales, Eubalaena glacialis, in Cape
Cod Bay, Massachusetts: January to Mid-May, 2000 - Final Report
by Moira W. Brown, Center for Coastal Studies and Marilyn
K. Marx, New England Aquarium (4,133 KB) **
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management
of North Atlantic Right Whales, Eubalaena glacialis, in Cape
Cod Bay, Massachusetts: January to Mid-May, 1999 - Final Report
by Moira W. Brown, Center for Coastal Studies and Marilyn
K. Marx, New England Aquarium (3,927 KB) **
Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of North Atlantic Right Whales,
Eubalaena glacialis, in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts: January to Mid-May, 1998. by Moira W. Brown and Marilyn K. Marx (2,096 Kb) **
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LINKS
Bioacoustic
Research Program, Cornell University
Center
for Coastal Studies
NMFS-Broadcasted
Right Whale Sightings Advisories
NMFS
Protected Species - Right Whale
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