Nov 24, 2021

Progress on the Road to Ropeless Fishing Gear

Learn how transitioning to ropeless fishing gear offers an alternative that could recover right whales and preserve the livelihood of New England’s iconic lobstermen and women.

Ropeless fishing right whale NOAA
Nov 26, 2019

Update: Ensuring a Future for Atlantic Herring

Atlantic herring is one of the most important fish in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. An upcoming decision by the New England Fishery Management Council could recognize herring’s role in maintaining the health of our ocean ecosystem.

Nov 05, 2019

A Victory for North Atlantic Right Whales

In a major win for endangered North Atlantic right whales, a federal judge ruled that gillnet fishing gear must be removed from 3,000 nautical miles of ocean waters in southern New England. Opening the areas to gillnet fishing without considering harm to right whales violated the Endangered Species Act, and the gear must be removed until the required analysis is complete.

right whale aerial shot
Sep 05, 2019

The Road to Ropeless Fishing Gear

Off the rocky coastline of Maine is an expanse of brightly colored lobster buoys. The buoys – which mark where potentially millions of traps are dropped along the 3,000-mile coast – are an iconic image, bobbing along with the shifting tides. But lobsters aren’t the only living icon in Maine’s waters: The North Atlantic right… Continue reading The Road to Ropeless Fishing Gear

Ropeless gear
Apr 04, 2019

Threats Continue as Right Whales Migrate Back to New England

Seven new North Atlantic right whale calves are migrating with their mothers and other whales back up the east cost into New England and Canadian waters. But this journey is full of threats: ship strikes, noise pollution, and entanglement in fishing gear all threaten their survival. We must work to make our oceans a safe and welcoming place for right whales.