Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP)

NOAA Fisheries Service and the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team has developed the ALWTRP, a plan to reduce serious injuries and deaths of large whales due to accidental entanglements with commercial fishing gear in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean. The plan targets three species of large whales, the North Atlantic right, fin, and humpback, though it does maintain a focus on the North Atlantic right whale. The plan is designed to be flexible, so that it might be modified as researchers learn more about why whales become entangled and how to prevent it.

            The main components of the ALWTRP are:

• closing critical habitats during right whale season,
• restricting when, where, and how gear is set,
• creating a network to respond to entangled whales,
• funding gear research to reduce entanglements, and
• boosting awareness of fishermen about the entanglement problem.

In the Southeast, the plan places special restrictions on the South Atlantic gillnet fishery, as gillnets have been documented causing frequent harm to right whales. The regulations include limiting gillnet fishermen to the area and time of day that they can fish, as well as what gear they can use. The southeast region contains the only known right whale calving area, so the coastal waters off Florida and Georgia are designated critical right whale habitat.

Right Whale Conservation | Right Whale South Calving Area

Fisheries Interactions |Ship Strike Reductions | Outreach and Education

Southeast Implementation Team | News and Press