Port Charlottetown, P.E.I. fishermen's group applaud changes to right whale restrictions

Changes to protection measures for endangered North Atlantic right whales are being received positively on P.E.I.

The 2019 measures were announcedin Shippagan, N.B.,on Thursday.

Government officials saidthe changes were based on data collected over the past few years and are mostly tweaked versions of last year's measures.

They hope the changes will continue to protect the endangered whales. No North Atlantic right whales diedin Canadian waters in 2018, after at least 17 died the previousyear.

The Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association says the new measures were not a surprise, as the industry had beenworking with the federal government.

Marine biologist Melanie Giffin, a program planner with the association,said the Island's lobster fishermen are largely unaffected as right whales are not often seen around Prince Edward Island.

Lobster fishing at shallower depths

She said one new measure that helps Island fishermen is a change to the depthimpacted by temporary closures. Fishermen working in waters less than 20 fathoms [36.58metres]deep will only be impacted by temporary closures if a right whale is observed in those waters.

"The majority of P.E.I. lobster fishers are within 20 fathoms," said Giffin. "So it was actually one of the things that we were happiest to hear."

The change means it's "a lot less hectic for fishers to have to scramble to move their gear and find a new place to set it," she said.

TheIsland's cruise industry was also happy with the changes, in particular a reduction in the number of mandatory monitoring flights needed to keep shipping lanes running normally, reduced from two flights per seven-day period to one.

"If they couldn't get those two flights up, we would have to restrict that dynamic shipping lane,"said business development manager CorrynClemencewith Port Charlottetown.

"They are very weather-dependent to be able to get those flights up, so for us to be able to get one flight up and to be able to have the opportunityto keep those dynamic shipping lanes open more often is very positive."

Sean Brillant, the senior conservation biologist for the marine program with the Canadian Wildlife Federation, was at the announcement in Shippagan.

"I am very impressed that we continue to see real action from government to protect right whales and to make sure that the ocean industries that are important to, particularly, the Maritimes are continuing to be able to operate," said Brillant.

"All things considered, the hope is that we see a reduced closure area that's much more focused on where the whales are," Brillantcontinued.

Strong protections in place

"Any area that is open and still fishableis still possible to be closed if whales are seen in that area," so the protections are still "quite good," he said.

Brillant said he recentlyheard that a fifth calf has been spotted this year, which he called"really good news" for the habitat area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In 2018, an estimated 411 North Atlantic right whales remained, withonly a quarter of them females of breeding age.

More P.E.I. news