AROUND THE COASTS
Northeast Report finds most ships don’t brake for right whales
NOAA
AIS analysis confirms earlier NOAA findings of routine violations on ship speed limits
NOAA regularly calls for 10-knot speed limits when right whales are in the vicinity.
n analysis of automated ship tracking data shows that nearly 90 percent of vessels transiting mandatory speed zones to protect endangered northern right whales are violating the speed limits, according to a new report. The highest level of compliance — with about one-third of vessels obeying the 10-knot limit — was documented
A
in the Off Race Point seasonal management area, near Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where NOAA regularly announces speed restrictions to protect migrating whales. The lowest levels of compliance — with nearly 90 percent of vessels busting the 10-knot limit — was off the coast between Wilmington, N.C., and Brunswick, Ga. That reach includes
approaches to the burgeoning ports of Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga., where cargo traffic and containership sizes are growing. The automatic identification system data comes via Global Fishing Watch, an international nonprofit organization founded by Oceana in partnership with Google and SkyTruth. The new fi ndings back up an earlier analysis by NOAA itself, reported in January 2021. Oceana analyzed self-reported vessel speeds and location data to track vessel speeds and positions in North Atlantic right whale conservation areas. NOAA delineates two types: seasonal management areas, based on previously documented right whale movements, where the 10-knot limit is mandatory, and dynamic management areas, announced as whales are tracked by NOAA aerial surveys and vessel report, where 10 knots is recommended. With an estimated 366 animals left, the northern right whale is one of the most endangered species on Earth, with ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement considered the top threats. The analysis showed non-compliance was as high as almost 90 percent in mandatory speed zones, and noncooperation was as high as almost 85 percent in voluntary areas.
MARKET REPORT: Northeast Oysters
based on large volumes, and lower prices.
After disaster loomed in pandemic, ‘markets are slamming’
brand, adds Parsons. “I’m like the happy
I
“
’ll put it to you this way: If someone
crazy busy.”
has oysters or clams and they can’t
With
hour oyster guy.” While boutique oysters can markets,
get ~$1.50-$2 per oyster, Parsons typically
sell ‘em, they should just quit!” says
and tourism all coming back to life, and
wholesales for about 50 cents apiece, and 65
Dale Parsons, owner of Parsons Seafood in
consumers’ taste for oysters seemingly
cents for retail.
Tuckerton, N.J.
insatiable, prices have been stable or higher,
In some parts of the East Coast, volume
with East Coast operations returning to a pre-
producers are earning 60-70 cents per oys-
covid pricing structure.
ter, and $1 each for smaller sizes. In other
A fifth-generation oyster and clam business operator, Parsons has seen the industry
restaurants,
“My oysters are not the $4 hipster oyster
seafood
evolve over the years. Some of the current
“Prices are up. Demand is stronger than
places, such as Cape Cod, growers who sell
boom can be attributed to reopenings after
it’s ever been.” And to think, adds Parsons,
to dealers are earning 45-55 cents per piece.
the pandemic shutdowns, says Parsons.
“20 years ago, nobody thought oyster farm-
“It’s beyond what anyone would have
ing was a thing!”
“Markets are slamming,” agrees Bob Rheault, executive director of the East
predicted. The vacationers have extra money
Parsons — whose company mostly
Coast Shellfish Growers Association, which
to spend, so what else can they do but go on
wholesales to distributors and only sells to
represents over 1,500 shellfish farmers from
vacations and spend money? Right now, it’s
a few select restaurants — says his model is
Maine to Florida.
8
National Fisherman \ October 2021
— Caroline Losneck
www.nationalfisherman.com
