U.S. senators worried about whales raise spectre of ban on Canadian seafood imports

Eleven U.S. senators are calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to investigate whether Canadian fisheries are doing enough to protect North Atlantic right whales or if theU.S. should consider banning some seafood imports.

Fishermen in the United States have made "significant sacrifices" to reducedeadly interactions with the endangeredwhales, argue theDemocratic senators, all from the northeast and led by Sen. EdwardMarkeyof Massachusetts, a member of thecommerce, science and transportation committee.

"We need to understand whether Canada's fishermen are being held to a similarly high standard in order to prevent the extinction of this species," the April 25 letter says.

Given the "urgency of the situation"after an historically deadly year of fishing gear entanglements and ship strikes, they want an answer by Sept. 15.

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The U.S. scientific agencyis "consideringthe request," spokeswomanKate Brogan toldCBCNews on Tuesday.

"NOAAcontinues to work closely with Canada to ensure that effective measures are in place to avoid entanglements in both Canadian and in U.S. waters," she said in an email.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada takes the protection, conservation and recovery of endangered species very seriously, and is committed to taking action to addressthreats to North Atlantic right whales, said spokeswoman CaroleSaindon.

"The government will continue to work co-operatively with our U.S. counterparts to ensure Canada is able to meet new U.S. import provisions and avoid any potential impact to the sector on this important trade relationship," she said in an email.

At least18 North Atlantic right whales have been found dead since last year 12 in Canadian waters and six off the coast of the U.S.

Necropsies on seven of the carcasses determined four whales died of blunt force trauma from collisionswith ships, and the other three likely died from entanglementsin fishing gear.

There are only about 450 North Atlantic right whales left in the world. Of those, only about 100 are reproducing females, and nonewcalveshave been spottedyet this year in the calving grounds off Florida.

The senators acknowledge Fisheries and Oceans Canadarecently announced new management measuresaimed at protecting North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by reducing the risk of fishing gear entanglements and ship strikes.

While we applaud Canada's efforts to address this ongoing crisis, we remain concerned as to whether the measures enacted will sufficiently protect North Atlantic right whales.- 11 U.S. senators

The new rules for the lobster and snow crab fisheries include designated "no-fishing" zones and"dynamic closures," where whales are spotted, earlier fishing season opening and closing, as well asgear restrictions and mandatory reporting of all lost gear.

Transport Canada has also implementedspeed limits in the gulf in a bid to preventship strikes and to givewhales a better chance of surviving a collision.

"While we applaud Canada's efforts to address this ongoing crisis, we remain concerned as to whether the measures enacted will sufficiently protect North Atlantic right whales," the five-page letter states.

They question, for example,whether other fisheries, such as sea snails and mackerel, should also be subject to the new rulesand suggest fishermen should be requiredto use weak links and multiple traps or potsper vertical line, as required in U.S. East Coast trap/pot fisheries.

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act,NOAAFisheries conducts studies that help determinewhether the U.S. Department of Commerce will take action against foreign fisheries that do not protect marine mammals.

The act requires nations that export fishery products to the U.S. to be held to the same marine mammal protection standards as domestic commercial fisheries

While the rule came into effect on Jan. 1, 2017, foreign nations have been granted a five-year exemption period to develop methods to ensure their commercial fishing practicesmeet U.S. standards.

Last week, Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlancsuggested the new lobster fishing rules were necessary to avoid a punitive response from the U.S. and to protect the industry.

"Under American law, if a country does not take every reasonable and possible step to protect these highly endangered marine mammals, the American government can decide, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of the United States, that the remedy is to close the American border to imports of fish and seafood from that country,which would have a devastating effect," he had said.

In addition to Markey, the other senators who signed the letter were RichardBlumenthalof Connecticut, Tom Carper of Delaware, Elizabeth Warren ofMassachusetts, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassanof New Hampshire,Cory Booker and Robert Menendezof New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrandof New York andSheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed of Rhode Island.