Erin Burke, Dan
McKiernan
A Right Whale takes a dive
off Provincetown.
Photo courtesy of
Center for Coastal Studies.
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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.
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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
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