U.S. officials locate dead North Atlantic right whale off coast of Virginia

Fisheries officials in the United States located the carcass of a North Atlantic right whale off the coast of Virginia on Friday, making it the first confirmed death of the endangered species this year.

At noon, a Coast Guard aircraft spotted the entangled dead whalereportedearlier this week, said Jennifer Goebel, spokeswoman for theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Charter vessel GAME ON with Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program staff aboard, along with assistance from the NOAA twin otter plane, were then able to locate and satellite tag the carcass," Goebel said in an email to CBCNews.

The tag will allow officials to track the carcass and send a vessel out to tow it back to shore for a necropsy within the next couple of weeks, as weather permits, she said.

A voluntary slow-speed zone declared for the area on Thursday after four live North Atlantic right whales were spotted there remains in effect until Feb. 7, said Goebel, urgingmariners to slow down and keep an eye out.

• U.S. asks mariners to slow down after report of another North Atlantic whale death
• Fines for violating whale-protecting speed limit may be inadequate, says fisheries minister
• New snow crab fishing rules rein in use of ropes to protect North Atlantic right whales

At least 17 North Atlantic right whales were found deadlast year 12 inCanadian waters and five in U.S. waters. Scientists believe human activity, includingshipping and fishing, was the primary cause.

There are only an estimated 450 North Atlantic right whales left in the world.

Fisheries and Oceans Minister DominicLeBlancsays he'sconfident U.S. fisheries offcialswill conduct an appropriate investigation and get to the bottom of the latestdeath.

"The Americans have been global leaders in this effort [to protect North Atlantic right whales] for a long time," he said.

In a bidto prevent whaleentanglements in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, LeBlanchas instructed the CanadianCoast Guard to come up with a plan to use ice-breakers to help start the snow crab fishing season earlier than the usual mid-April.

Starting earlier would also mean ending earlier and getting the fishing gear out of the whales' way sooner, said LeBlanc.

He believesit's one of the best steps the Canadian government can take to reduce the risk to the whales.

I'll continue to insistthat they be ready to start the crab season as early as possible.- Dominic LeBlanc, Fisheries and Coast Guard minister

"If we can use Coast Guardice breakers to open certain harbours in northern New Brunswickor in Gasp, Que.,earlier and allow the fishing fleets to start fishing earlier further out from shore, on the outer banks where the whales had first arrived last June, that would probably represent a very significant improvement in the safety of those endangered species,"said LeBlanc.

"So I've asked the Coast Guardto prepare operational plans that would allow them to bring ice breakers to open those ports," he said.

"The problemis we'll only know sort of at the last minuteexactly when and how that will be possible" because the Coast Guard has other safety and economic obligations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and around the coast of Newfoundland, among otherareas, which "necessarilyhave to have a priority," said LeBlanc.

"So they're going to work on plans and I'm confident they'll come up with solutionsand I'll continue to insistthat they be ready to start the crab season as early as possible."

Earlier this week, LeBlancannounced four changes to the snow crab fishery in the southern gulfthe first in a series of measures expected in the coming weeks and months aimed at better protecting the whales.

The new rules include reducing the amount of rope floating on the surface and mandatory reporting of all lost gear, as well as using colour-coded rope and sequentially numbered buoys to identify the gear'splace of origin.

Penalties set out inlegislation

LeBlancexpressed "surprise" during that Tuesday announcement aboutthe more than 500 reported speed limit violations in the western part of the gulflast year andquestionedwhether the penalties should be stiffer.

He suggested the minimum $6,000 fines issued to the 14 ships confirmed to date of exceeding the 10-knot restriction does not represent a sufficient deterrent and is not proportionate to the seriousness of the offence.

Transport Canada responded Thursday saying the penaltyfor avessel found to be in violation of the speed limit is stipulated by the Shipping Act, which sets the minimum at$6,000 and the maximum at$25,000.

"The penalty for a first offence is $6,000 unless there are aggravating circumstances," said Julie Leroux, a spokesperson with Transport Canadain an emailed statement.

"Transport Canada had previously begun a review of the amount of the administrative monetary penalties as part of our ongoing regulatory modernization work," she said without elaborating.

LeBlanc has said the government will"most likely" impose speed restrictions for vessels again.

78 alleged violations pending

The speed restriction,imposed on Aug. 11 for vessels measuring 20 metres or more in length, was lifted on Jan. 11to ensure ships couldmaintain manoeuvrability in winter conditions and because no whales had been spotted in the area for weeks.

About 4,711 vessel transits occurred during that five-month period, Transport Canada officials have said.Violations were reportedin 542 cases, but 450 of those have been closed due to insufficient evidence.

Thirty-four cases are still under review and 44 are pendingreview.

The 14 fined vessels includeda Canadian Coast Guard vessel, cruise ships, cargo ships and an oil tanker.

The speeds in 13 of the cases ranged from10.5 knots to 13.3 knots. The alleged speed in the fourteenthcasehas not been released yet because it is still within the 30-day appeal period.

On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared a new voluntary slow-speed zone in the mid-Atlantic to protect four live North Atlantic right whales spotted in the areaon Tuesday.

The U.S. agency is asking mariners travelling 86 nautical miles east-southeast of VirginiaBeachto slow down to 10 knots or lessor to reroute.

That is the same general area where the entangled dead whale was first seen, NOAAsaid.

• PODCAST:Deep Trouble: the North Atlantic right whale in peril

Based on a photograph of the carcass the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program received on Wednesday night and NOAA's previousexperience with whale entanglements, officials believethe whale was alive and swimming when it encountered the line.

Based on current mortality and birth rates, scientists say North Atlantic right whales could become extinct within 20 years.

CBC New Brunswick launched Deep Trouble:a podcast series that brings together the interviews and stories by CBC journalistswho covered a deadly summer for the North Atlantic right whale. Listen to the full discussion andsubscribe to theDeep Troublepodcastfrom theCBC Podcast pageorsubscribe to thepodcastin iTunes.