Question Period Note: Whale #3920 “Cottontail” Entanglement Case

• The Government of Canada continues to take action to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
• Canada has extensive monitoring of right whales and whale #3920, known as Cottontail, was not observed in Canadian waters throughout 2020.
• The whale was observed gear free in American waters in March of 2020 but then seen entangled in American waters in October of 2020 and February of 2021. It was later found dead near Myrtle Beach on February 28, 2021.
• While there are gaps in the evidence, based on information that can be verified, the gear is likely from the U.S. Southern Nearshore Trap/Pot fishery.
• Collaboration will continue with the U.S. on gear investigation.

• The available evidence includes rope with some type of orange mark on the gear retrieved from #3920. The use of orange markings in US and Canadian fisheries presents a challenge in verifying the country of origin.
• The orange marking found on gear from #3920 is not consistent with markings required by Canada for fixed gear fisheries throughout Quebec and Atlantic Canada since January 1, 2020.
• The orange marking on whale #3920 is consistent with the general requirement for an orange marked rope in the U.S. Southern Nearshore Trap/Pot Fisheries. Based on this information, as well as additional analysis, the origin of the gear appears consistent with the U.S. Southern Nearshore Trap/Pot Fisheries.
• The Department’s measures to protect whale species from fisheries interactions are focused on prevention, by implementing season-long and dynamic closures for non-tended fixed gear fisheries in areas important to this species, including in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Bay of Fundy, and its critical habitat in Grand Manan Basin and Roseway Basin.
• The Department has been working with U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials to formally establish a protocol for sharing information and conducting investigations on right whale and other whale entanglements.
• To reduce the risk of entanglement and track lost gear the Department has in place lost gear reporting requirements and measures designed to reduce the amount of vertical and floating rope in the water.
• Throughout 2020, the Department worked with industry, to identify gear solutions for alleviating injury to right whales. Future gear modifications that are being considered include: requirements for maximum rope diameters of 5/8 inches, sinking rope between pots and traps, and reductions in vertical and floating rope.
• The Department’s Marine Mammal Response Program (MMRP) works with partners to track and respond to marine mammal entanglements, strandings (dead and live), ship strikes, and other threats; quantify threats affecting marine mammal species, with a special focus on species assessed as at risk; provide data and information to support Species at Risk recovery planning initiatives, mitigation options, and policy development.

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