NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE CONSORTIUM
  • Home
    • Mandate
    • Partners
    • Contact Us
  • ANNUAL MEETING
    • Meeting Policies
    • Press
    • Previous Meetings
  • NARWC Databases
    • Photo and Data Submission
    • Sightings Database
    • Identification Database >
      • NARW Catalog Reports
    • Accessing NARWC Data
    • NARWC Data Access Request Archive
  • Right Whale News
  • Report Cards
  • Resources
    • Educational Activities

Mandate

What is the problem?
  • Around 350 North Atlantic right whales remain.
  • Calving rates during the 2000’s averaged 24 calves per year, but recently calving rates have decreased by 44%. 
  • The population has been in decline since 2010. 
  • Right Whale coastal habitat along the eastern U.S. and Canada is heavily industrialized and under increasing negative pressures from human activities.
  • Mortality from ship-strikes and fishing-gear entanglements is driving the species toward extinction.
What actions must be taken to effect the solutions?
Eliminate human-caused mortality to right whales in critical habitats and migration corridors

1. Reduce and eliminate mortality and injury from entanglements and ship-strikes via:
  • Reduce and eliminate mortality and injury from fishing-gear entanglements via:
  • Use of reduced breaking strength ropes
  • Development and implementation of buoyless fishing
  • Ship rerouting around critical areas
  • Ship speed reduction to "whale safe" speeds
  • Advanced technology to help ships avoid right whales

​2. Protect right whale habitats
  • Assess patterns of known critical habitat use by right whales and humans and eliminate conflict
  • Locate the other critical habitats not yet identified but known to exist
  • Protect critical habitats using a range of tools (including some of the means identified above)
  • Advance effective protection of known habitats and protect other habitats as they become known.

​3. Assess factors that reduce reproductive success of right whales
  • Identify and assess actual and potential threats in right whale habitats that reduce reproductive success
  • Reduce and eliminate threats as they become identified
Essential resources and tools
  • Information based on credible science that can address uncertainties
  • International and national leadership, coordination and cooperation
  • Political will at all jurisdictional levels
  • Multi-year continuity in funding for research, monitoring and stewardship to capitalize on insights and advance policy and conservation initiatives
  • Public and private partnerships, stakeholder and institutional commitment
  • Education
Picture
Website by NARWC
  • Home
    • Mandate
    • Partners
    • Contact Us
  • ANNUAL MEETING
    • Meeting Policies
    • Press
    • Previous Meetings
  • NARWC Databases
    • Photo and Data Submission
    • Sightings Database
    • Identification Database >
      • NARW Catalog Reports
    • Accessing NARWC Data
    • NARWC Data Access Request Archive
  • Right Whale News
  • Report Cards
  • Resources
    • Educational Activities