According to the fishermen proposed federal rules to protect endangered Puget Sound orca whales could harm their livelihood because it would restrict their access to waters on the west side of San Juan Island during the commercial season for sockeye and pink salmon. It is said that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s plan to keep boats from disturbing the whales by restricting nearly all vessels from entering the “no-go zone” on that side of the island, in a 6.2-square mile area stretching from Mitchell Bay down to Eagle Point.
Shannon Moore, a Bellingham resident and gillnet fisherman of the commercial fleet, informed that there is so few of us that I can’t see it’s actually an issue. He told that shutting the activities would inflict unnecessary harm to fishing industry. Moore, who represents a group called Puget Sound Gillnet Fisherman, said moving commercial fishing vessels from what is commonly referred to as the salmon banks, because the fish tend to pool there, would stack them up in other areas that are not as lucrative.
Lynne Barre, marine mammal specialist for NOAA Fisheries Service, opined that they did acknowledge they would be displaced. But it’s a small 6.2-square-mile area. He added that the exemption for commercial treaty fishermen, or tribal fishermen, was made because NOAA is following agreements it has with the tribes. NOAA has said the rules will protect the whales, which depend on sophisticated sonar to navigate and find food. Studies have shown that orcas can be affected by underwater noise from boats and vessels that approach too close or block their paths, which also is concerned about boats running into whales.
