Band of Brothers

Ocean Conservancy Magazine, Spring 2009
Story by Susan Little Olcott

Check out our graphic on the impacts of the lobster fishery. Click for larger view.

Mark Ring first set out in his own skiff at age 14 to fish the famed waters of Massachusetts's Cape Cod Bay. His uncles fish. His brothers fish. They dock at one of the most historic fishing towns in the country, if not the world—Gloucester, Massachusetts. Gloucester was made famous by its codfish and the fishermen who chased them. Mark Ring was once one of those men, gillnetting cod and haddock. But, year upon year, overfishing made those fish harder and harder to catch. About twenty years ago, Mark and others began switching to lobster. Today, catching lobster is more lucrative than any other kind of fishing in the state, and Gloucester is known more for crustaceans than cod.

Statewide, Massachusetts boasts about 900 lobstermen—100 in Gloucester alone—hauling around 360,000 traps per year and landing about nine million pounds of lobster. The Massachusetts economy benefits from lobstering and there is value in a steady, sustainable industry. The state has put in place several safeguards to avoid the highs and lows experienced in the groundfish (like cod and haddock) industry: minimum and maximum catch sizes, vents in traps that allow small lobsters to escape, limits on the number of traps each fisherman can set, and a requirement to notch a tell-tale “V” in the tail of egg-bearing females and throw them back so the next guy down the line can quickly identify them the next time they are caught.

Home to Whales

While these measures protect the lobster population,lobstering is still harming other aspects of the ecosystem. The waters off of Massachusetts are home to several species of large whales including minke, humpback, finback, and, of course, the endangered North Atlantic right whale. In fact, of the three critical habitats designated for right whales in the North Atlantic, two are off the coast of Massachusetts: in the feeding grounds of the Great South Channel and Cape Cod Bay.

Mark Ring has seen these whales on both ends of their migration, while lobstering in Massachusetts and also while swordfishing off the coast of Georgia. The right whale population, hunted extensively off the New England coast until about 65 years ago, now numbers only about 400 individuals. They are one of the most endangered marine mammals on the planet. Yet, while no longer a target of harpoons, two human activities continue to pose major risks. The first is ship strikes. The second risk is entanglement in fishing gear, especially the heavy lines of lobster gear.

"Just in 2008, reports show that at least 11 large whales were entangled and half of them involved endangered right whales," said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

To solve the ship strike problem, Ocean Conservancy successfully urged passage of requirements to slow large ships in areas and at times when right whales are most vulnerable to collisions. For entanglements, Ocean Conservancy has been seeking ways to reduce this risk while still allowing the fishery to thrive. Gear modifications are one such solution.

Floating Hazard

Lobster traps in Massachusetts waters are usually set in groups of 10-25 traps connected one to the next by ropes called groundlines. At one or both ends of each group of traps, lines run to buoys at the surface that help lobstermen locate and haul their gear. Lobstermen prefer to use groundlines made of buoyant rope. Unfortunately, buoyant rope creates a suspended arc of line between traps that can entangle whales as they swim by, mouth agape to feed.

Ocean Conservancy has advocated that lobstermen use sinking lines for groundlines to reduce the risk of whales becoming entangled. Massachusetts passed a law requiring their use by all lobstermen as of January 1, 2007. The state of Massachusetts created a buyback program where fishermen could turn in their old rope for a voucher toward the purchase of sinking line. Ring says, "[The buyback] worked great for the fishermen here. The guys were really proactive and started getting their gear switched over a while before the law went into effect." More than 3,000 miles of floating rope were converted to sinking line.

Tell-Tale Green Band

In order to raise awareness about this gear conversion and its positive impacts for whales, Ocean Conservancy partnered with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, the Massachusetts Lobsterman's Association, and the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries, launching a campaign called "Massachusetts lobster fishing: The right way." The program is a labeling and education program to distinguish lobsters caught in Massachusetts using fishing practices—like sinking line— that are safer for whales.

"The steps that Massachusetts lobstermen have taken are an important start to getting endangered whale populations on the road to recovery," said Vicki Cornish, vice president of marine wildlife conservation at Ocean Conservancy.

As a hallmark of the campaign, the Department of Marine Fisheries distributed green bands that the lobstermen use to bind the lobsters' dangerous claws. The green bands, clearly marked with "Massachusetts" and a picture of a whale's tail, are a sign to consumers that the lobsters were caught using gear that is safer for whales. Posters and brochures promoting the product and explaining the gear changes carry the message throughout the state. The Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association has been encouraging voluntary participation in the program by its members.

Signs of Success

The program is already seeing encouraging signs that the Massachusetts lobster-labeling program is working: consumer awareness is increasing and the hope is that demand will rise and the lobstermen will see an economic benefit to using whale safer techniques. "Increasingly, consumers are demanding assurances that the seafood they are buying comes from sustainable and wellmanaged fisheries. We're exploring new and innovative ways to move [fisheries] toward sustainability," says Ocean Conservancy fisheries economist Koyel Mandal.

Of the 100 licensed lobstermen and two or three major dealers in Gloucester, nearly all participated in the lobster-labeling project. Combined, Ocean Conservancy and its partners in the whale-safer program and distributed around 860,000 bands through the summer season when the majority of lobsters are caught. Asked if the bands were a burden, Mark Ring notes that 99 percent of the bands they use these days are labeled in one way or another. Consumers want to know where their seafood comes from. As a result, dealers are asking fishermen to label their catch with bands that indicate things like "wild caught," "USA," or "local." In the end, the green bands were no burden, and cost the lobstermen nothing.

Ocean Conservancy worked with Discovery Channel's Emeril Lagasse show to take the message to Emeril's environmentally conscious audience. As a result, David Casoni, representing the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, appeared on "Emeril Green" to explain the labeling program and, of course, teach a few tricks for preparing lobster. Likewise, during the summer whale season, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society worked with whale-watching companies to hand out brochures and encourage their customers to look for the green bands in local restaurants and seafood shops. The project even reached beyond Massachusetts with a report of a green-banded Massachusetts lobster at a supermarket in South Carolina.

Above and Beyond

Beyond the use of sinking lines, Massachusetts lobstermen are involved in several other efforts to reduce the risk of whale entanglements. They participate in a federal research program to identify new ways to reduce risks to whales, and they participate in state-organized cleanups to remove lost fishing gear. In addition, the lobstermen have welcomed the use of buoy lines that have breakaway links allowing whales to easily escape should they become entangled. And lobstermen have limited the amount and type of gear used in the Right Whale Critical Habitat of Cape Cod Bay.

"The Massachusetts lobstermen have stepped up to the plate and been proactive in their participation," says Mark Ring. 'We didn’t always all agree, but we are doing as much as we can do to protect these whales."

Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, echoed the sentiment, saying, "We are the first in the nation to take important steps to protect whales with our fishing gear. We hope to set an example for other fisheries along the East Coast."

What Lies Ahead

Seizing on the program's success and the momentum it has generated, Ocean Conservancy is working throughout the lobster fishery, from Canada to New Jersey, to implement measures that protect whales and ensure that the fishery is truly sustainable—at least from a whale's perspective. In other geographic areas, physical and regulatory conditions may dictate a different set of solutions, but the lesson is clear: fishermen and the conservation community can work together to build solutions that work economically and environmentally.

"Safe whales and a thriving lobster industry are not mutually exclusive. Massachusetts lobstermen are innovators and are dedicated to fishing the right way," said Paul Diodati, director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. "Buying green-banded Massachusetts lobster helps local lobstermen who are investing in the protection of endangered whales even at a time of increased fuel and bait costs. We hope to develop more initiatives like this in the future that will be good for the fishermen and good for the whales."