NR-HQ-00-87E

$250,000 FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE RECOVERY PLAN ANNOUNCED

September 15, 2000

DARTMOUTH, N.S. – The Honourable Bernie Boudreau, Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister responsible for Nova Scotia, on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Minister Herb Dhaliwal, today announced that a recovery team has been assembled to implement the North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery Plan. The first meeting of this group is being held today at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.

"The goal of the recovery plan is to protect one of the rarest large whales in the world and the federal government offers its support for this initiative. We are concerned about the threats to this diminishing species, but confident that solutions can be found to minimize them," Senator Boudreau said.

Through Budget 2000, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is committing $250,000, with additional financing to come as the plan is implemented.

The Senator applauded the contribution made by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and East Coast Ecosystems (ECES). "The World Wildlife Fund has contributed half the funds to jointly develop the Recovery Plan with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. East Coast Ecosystems has put tremendous effort into highlighting the plight of this marine mammal to the public, to government and to the fishing and shipping industries."

In addition to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Implementation Team members include representatives of the WWF, ECES, fishing, shipping and whale watching industries, Provincial representatives and the Departments of National Defense, and Transport Canada.

The North Atlantic Right Whale, which once roamed the North Atlantic in large numbers, has been reduced to an estimated 300. This marine mammal has been internationally protected since 1935. In Canadian waters, Right Whales are found mainly in the Bay of Fundy and Roseway Basin where they concentrate to feed in early summer to late autumn. In other periods of the year, a small number of pregnant females migrate from eastern Canada to waters off Florida to give birth. The majority of these whales do not migrate in the winter.

Since the early 1990s, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has launched a number of initiatives to address the plight of the North Atlantic Right Whale and to reduce human threats.

• In 1993, two areas -- Grand Manan Basin in the Bay of Fundy, and Roseway Basin on the Scotian Shelf -- were identified as critical habitat for Right Whales.
• The department, in collaboration with WWF, the ECES and other partners, has embarked on an educational and outreach program to target one of the principal threats to the species, commercial ship traffic. The Canadian Coast Guard has cooperated by providing advance warning of the presence of endangered whales to mariners entering Bay of Fundy waters and advising on measures which should be taken to avoid collision. With the cooperation of the Atlantic Pilotage Authority, a brochure is distributed to most vessels entering or departing Atlantic Canadian ports. Information has also been provided to the fishing industry on the endangered status of these whales.
• To gain more data on the species, whale sighting information is collected from research vessels, from aircraft, from whale watchers, from the fishing industry, and from the shipping industry. This information is collected and compiled in collaboration with U.S. researchers.