Lobster fishermen of Yarmouth County and parts of Shelburne and Digby counties is putting down on paper voluntary steps it is willing to support as part of a goal to reduce right whale entanglements in fishing gear. They have agreed to adopt a voluntary plan put forward by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada. It is said that the plan is the result of significant consultation with lobster fishermen – led by Clare fisherman Hubert Saulnier of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union – and also through discussions with DFO.
Sean Brillant, a WWF conservation analyst, opined that the whole point of the plan is to keep excess line out of the water. Any new sof whale entangled in fishing gear raises concern as there are only around 400 right whales left in the world. Tonya Wimmer, manager of species conservation with the WWF, informed that there is also a lot of finger pointing that happens and whether justified or not, Canadian fishermen are usually the ones being blamed. She also said that’s unfair to LFA 34 lobster fishermen in southwestern Nova Scotia because when the commercial season here is open and gear is in the water, there aren’t endangered right whales in the area.
