A Right Whale takes a dive off Provincetown. Photo courtesy of Center for Coastal Studies.

MarineFisheries Conservation Program was established in 1997 with input from the Massachusetts Endangered Whale Working Group. The Working Group was appointed by the federal court and charged with devising measures to minimize harm to Northern Right Whales in state waters. MarineFisheries' efforts dovetail with ongoing federal, state and private programs to protect Right Whales.

MarineFisheries efforts include research, management, and education components. The keystone of the program is the Surveillance and Monitoring Program, where experienced researchers from the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) and biologists from MarineFisheries, survey and monitor Northern Right Whales and their habitat in Cape Cod Bay Critical Habitat and adjacent waters.  Scientists study the  Right Whales' habitat by monitoring plankton, water temperature, salinity, and much more to better understand and forecast for the presence/ absence and movement patterns of Right Whales.   The program contributes sightings of Right Whales to the federal Sighting Advisory System, which warns mariners of the presence of Right Whales in order to reduce the threat of ship strikes.

The U.S. Coast Guard, Center for Coastal Studies and Division of Marine Fisheries working to disentangle a northern right whale in Cape Cod Bay. Approximately 10 months prior to arriving in Cape Cod Bay, this whale was seen entangled in
Canadian waters. Photo courtesy of Center for Coastal Studies.

Beginning in 2004, MarineFisheries is collaborating with Dr, Christopher Clark of Cornell University's Bioacoustic Lab to establish acoustic monitoring stations in Cape Cod Bay.  These listening stations will allow us to monitor right whales in near real-time and over a broader time frame to better manage the species and address potential threats.

MarineFisheries continues to  address the entanglement threat posed by fishing gear.  The Center for Coastal Studies and MarineFisheries, respond to reports of entangled whales, and under a federally-funded Disentanglment Program, attempt  to free large whales reported in life-threatening entanglements.

In addition, to prevent or reduce the threat and harm from entanglement with fixed fishing gear, MarineFisheries gear experts, work with fishermen to modify fishing gear and practices so that they are "whale-friendly", yet remain safe and productive for fishing. 

 MarineFisheries, CCS, federal agencies and others are all working to raise the profile and awareness about the plight of this highly endangered whale.

The following links are especially relevant to Marine Fisheries Right Whale Conservation & Monitoring efforts:

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REPORTS ** these files may take a long time to download on slower connections

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