Proposed Rule to Designate Critical Habitat for Endangered Rice’s Whales
NOAA announced a proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the endangered Rice’s whale under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) even though a decision on the vessel speed in the Gulf of Mexico has not been finalized. The proposed critical habitat designation and the Rice’s whale vessel speed petition are unrelated actions. Critical habitat is designated under the ESA, and the requirement to designate critical habitat for the Rice’s whale was triggered by its 2019 listing as an endangered species. The proposed critical habitat includes Gulf of Mexico waters between 100 and 400 meters depth and this critical habitat would guide federal agencies
Welcome Aboard our Newest Winthrop P. Rockefeller Student Ocean Intern – Racine Prinzo
We would like to introduce our newest Winthrop P. Rockefeller Student Ocean intern, Racine Prinzo! Racine is a passionate ocean enthusiast and dedicated intern at TBF. She is a South Florida native who enjoys spending her free time out on the boat with family and friends. Racine graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and is currently a graduate student at the University of Miami pursuing a master’s degree in marine biology and ecology. With a focus on marine conservation, she is currently conducting research on the effectiveness of speed restriction zones for whales
Hard Caps Accepted for Pacific Gillnet Fishery
On February 7th, the National Marine Fisheries Service published a final ruling on the implementation of hard caps for drift gillnet fisheries (DGN) in the Pacific. These fisheries target thresher sharks and swordfish but have high rates of bycatch of sea turtles, whales, and billfish. Hard caps are a bycatch upper limit (either mortality or injury) which, once met, the fishery is closed. The hard caps run on a rolling two-year schedule. This measure is an attempt to incentivize greater bycatch mitigation by drift gillnet fleets off the west coast of the U.S., which has historically seen high rates
