Once potentially limiting factors were identified, the Right Whale Recovery Team formulated strategies to counter these factors. Each strategy includes several, more precise recommendations aimed at favouring population recovery. The ultimate goal of the recovery plan is that the North Atlantic right whale be no longer listed as an endangered species.

Here are the five strategies proposed by the Recovery Team*:

* Translated from The Right Whale Recovery Team. 2000. Canadian North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery Plan. World Wildlife Fund Canada. 90p.

Return to North Atlantic Right Whale

A. Reduce mortality and injury related to vessel strikes

There is no simple solution to the problem of vessel or ship strikes. Even though operators generally have no wish to harm the animals, collisions happen and animals are killed or seriously injured. The ideal solution would be to eliminate all vessel traffic in areas where right whales occur, but this is obviously impossible. A straightforward technical solution, such as a mechanism for clearing whales out of the vessel’s path, or a device allowing foolproof detection of whales ahead of the vessel, day or night and in any conditions, is not available. Thus, there are two options left: governmental regulations to reduce and minimize the probability of collisions and voluntary efforts by those who operate vessels at sea.

Recovery plan recommendations:

A.1 Analyse all available data on the seasonal and interannual distribution of right whales in the Bay of Fundy and evaluate the extent to which alterations in vessel traffic routing would reduce the risk of collisions.
A.2 Conduct similar analyses for the Roseway Basin area and other areas in Canada where ship strikes on right whales are known to have occurred or are considered likely to occur in the future.
A.3 Expand, refine and continually update programs to educate mariners about the problems facing right whales and the ways in which changed vessel-operation procedures will help address those problems.
A.4 Conduct research on how right whales respond to oncoming vessels and on what cues elicit a response.
A.5 Put the locations of right whale conservation areas on the Internet (for example, on Fisheries and Oceans of Canada’s website) and on marine charts of Eastern Canada, with notes of caution and references to the Annual Notice to Mariners.
A.6 Expand the existing warning and reporting system for right whales.

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B. Reduce the frequency (and severity) of entanglement and entrapment in fishing gear

This strategy can be addressed both by reducing the seriousness of encounters once they occur and/or by taking steps to prevent encounters in the first place. It is obvious that fishermen have the most important role; they have a vested interest in preventing the entanglement of whales in their fishing gear as these types of accidents damage their material and compromise the profitability of their activities.

Recovery plan recommendations:

B.1 Establish a disentanglement network in Eastern Canada that includes caches of needed equipment and teams of trained personnel at strategic locations.
B.2 Develop a reporting system for entangled or entrapped right whales.
B.3 Educate fishermen about the ways in which they can, through voluntary action, reduce the frequency of interactions between right whales and fishing operations.
B.4 Consider time and area fishing closures that will reduce the amount of overlap, in time and space, between gear and right whales.
B.5 Subject to careful review any initiative to expand the use of gear known to be a problem for right whales (for example, gillnets, offshore lobster and crab trawl gear) into right whale feeding areas.
B.6 Investigate the use of gear modifications to reduce the incidence and severity of entanglements and entrapments.
B.7 Investigate ways of compensating fishermen for gear damage and lost fishing time when it can be shown that their actions have contributed to a right whale’s rescue.
B.8 Based on trends in the incidence of scarring, wounding and mortality, attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the foregoing measures.

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C. Minimize disturbance caused by human activities

With a population as small as that of the North Atlantic right whale, it must be assumed that there is little margin for error in assessing the risks associated with disturbance. The health of each individual may be important to the population’s viability. Thus this strategy has two main elements. The first is to use all available information, as well as common sense, in a precautionary manner and thus minimize the disturbance of right whales. The second is to work toward a better understanding of disturbance and to develop ways of using any improved understanding to further reduce disturbance.

Recovery plan recommendations:

C.1 Define “disturbance” of right whales and encode the definition in the Marine Mammal Regulations.
C.2 Review what is known about acoustic deterrents (for example, pingers, acoustic harassment devices) that are being used in areas inhabited by right whales and establish appropriate guidelines for their use.
C.3 Subject proposed or ongoing human activities that produce loud underwater sound to a stringent assessment process, with specific reference to right whales, and regulate such activities so as to avoid, reduce, or eliminate disturbance.
C.4 Identify one or more areas of right whale habitat as “areas of interest” in the Marine Protected Areas Program under the Oceans Act.
C.5 Ensure that people operating vessels in the vicinity of right whales, and in particular whale watchers, are aware of the need for cautious, respectful behaviour toward the animals.
C.6 Ensure that the current permitting system for the management of research activities involving right whales in Canadian waters actively incorporates an understanding of potential disturbance to the whales.

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D. Reduce exposure to chemical contamination and other forms of habitat degradation

Interest in reducing the exposure of right whales to harmful substances converges with interest in protecting many other organisms, including humans, from the risks associated with living in a polluted environment. As long as right whales are being killed and injured as a result of ship strikes or encounters with fishing gear, it will be hard to prove that their apparent failure to recover, or the slowness of their recovery is related in any way to habitat problems. To a considerable extent, then, this strategy is premised on the precautionary principle, that is, that humans are obliged to act in ways least likely to impair the viability of wild species and populations, even though the scientific evidence for a cause-and-effect relationship may be inconclusive or lacking.

Recovery plan recommendations:

D.1 Prevent catastrophic spills of oil and other toxic substances in areas used by right whales.
D.2 Prepare and implement an emergency-response protocol for incidents involving spills of dangerous substances in right whale habitat.
D.3 Subject proposed or ongoing human activities that carry risks of acute or chronic contamination of the marine environment to a stringent assessment process and regulate such activities so as to avoid, reduce, or eliminate potential threats to right whales and their prey base.
D.4 Subject any proposed development in the Bay of Fundy or Gulf of Maine that would affect salinity or circulation (for example, tidal power projects, river damming, breakwater construction) or otherwise alter marine conditions (for example, bridge or causeway construction) to a stringent assessment process that explicitly takes account of the potential impact on right whales and their habitat.
D.5 Define, evaluate and attempt to address cumulative impacts of habitat degradation on right whales (including disturbance as covered in Strategy C).
D.6 Establish a formal mechanism to ensure timely notification and thorough consultation by the Department of National Defence with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada (DFO) concerning the potential impacts on right whales of military exercises in eastern Canadian waters.
D.7 Ensure that right whales are taken into account in decisions related to coastal development, including aquaculture.
D.8 Prevent the initiation of “forage” fisheries that could have deleterious effects on right whales.

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E. Monitor the population and conduct research needed to better understand and address ongoing threats

The North Atlantic right whale population has been the subject of intensive research only since the early to mid-1980s. Although much has been learned about the biology, behaviour and status of the species, many important gaps remain. For example, the winter distribution of most of the population is uncertain. Some females with calves do not visit the well-known nursery ground in the Bay of Fundy in summer. The migratory routes and destinations of these individuals are therefore not known. Since 1985, major shifts in the population’s summer distribution have been observed. Although these are presumed to be related to changes in prey availability, it is not known whether the variability is due to natural cycles or to processes driven by human activities (for example, climate change). Very little is known about the sensory abilities of right whales, yet these may be critical in explaining why and how the animals are susceptible to ship strikes and entanglement or entrapment in fishing gear. Certain types of monitoring and research need to continue and others need to be initiated. The magnitude and scope of the information needed make it essential for those involved in right whale research to co-ordinate their efforts and co-operate in nearly all aspects of right whale research. Canadian agencies and individuals need to co-operate closely with their counterparts in the United States and, as appropriate, Greenland, Iceland and other North Atlantic countries whose waters are used by right whales.

Recovery plan recommendations:

E.1 Monitor the whale population through annual surveys that incorporate photo-identification and biopsy sampling.
E.2 Establish protocols and provide resources to ensure that dead right whales are salvaged and necropsied.
E.3 Investigate the response thresholds (behavioural and physiological) of right whales to acoustic stimuli, with the objective of documenting and defining acoustic disturbance.
E.4 Investigate, through directed research, consultation and field trials, methods to reduce the incidence of ship strikes and gear entanglement.
E.5 Develop a method of estimating ages of individual right whales.
E.6 Improve understanding of the distributional ecology of right whales.
E.7 Refine the technology for attaching instruments (for example, satellite-monitored radio transmitters) to right whales that will make it possible to track their movements over long periods (months to years).
E.8 Continue and expand efforts to document contaminant levels in right whales and study the implications by analogy with other species.
E.9 Model the population dynamics of right whales.
E.10 Investigate the mating system of right whales.
E.11 Monitor the physiological condition of right whales in relation to their reproductive performance.
E.12 Compare the genetic variability in historical museum specimens (for example, baleen, bone) with that in recent samples (from biopsies and necropsies).
E.13 Analyse past trends in zooplankton distribution and production in eastern Canadian waters and relate these to data on the annual distribution of right whales.
E.14 Investigate the characteristics of individual right whales that are prone to entanglement or entrapment, that is, is a particular class of whale exceptionally likely to run afoul of fishing gear? If so, how might this knowledge be used to shape appropriate management actions?

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