Forming Alliances

The whale entanglements of this past summer were problematic for the whales and the fishing fleet; enough so that it became clear to all that some proactive measures needed consideration. Beyond the obvious dangers for humpbacks, there is the danger to the fishermen. A wild, frightened, 40 ton animal caught in a gillnet is a recipe for disaster.

At a minimum, the whale is encumbered until it frees itself (they often do); or is disentangled by specialists and is fatigued by the experience. The fisherman loses expensive gear, and fishing time which may be the difference between a successful season or a bust. Noone wants this.

In September, Board members Don Holmes, Barry Bracken and Lee Ribich participated in a community forum moderated by Sunny Rice of the Marine Advisory Program and attended by members of the fishing community. The participants met to address the problem of whale and fishing gear interactions. Barry and Don presented their involvement with recent disentanglements and addressed the concerns about regulations (nothing new). Lee presented information about research being done elsewhere regarding gear enhancement and sound deterent devices. Then, fishermen discussed some of their activities when fishing in the vicinity of whales.

Although no conclusions were reached, what did develop was the formation of a working group to build an alliance of concerned organizations. Now, the PMMC, the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association and the Marine Advisory Program have been meeting on a regular basis to expand our association and address specific issues.

Board member Julianne Curry has reached out to fishing organizations such as United Fishermen of Alaska, Southeast Gillnetters Association and other groups with a common interest. It appears that all stakeholders believe that a proactive approach to entanglement issues is best. One of the developments is to request of National Marine Fisheries the sponsorship of another disentanglement workshop prior to the start of the 2007 season. The forthcoming workshop would be made available to interested fishermen. 

Additionally, the working group is researching funding possibilties to develop a wheelhouse guide of do’s and don’ts and a sticker with a 24hr emergency number. Once again, the PMMC mission of public education steps forward.