This article was written by Jenn Thornhill Verma and was published in the Globe & Mail on September 18, 2025.

On a frigid day in March, far enough from the coast for the shoreline to slip away, father and son duo Captain Mike Lane and crewman Jake Lane are the only lobstermen for miles on Massachusetts Bay.

The crewman baits the traps, while the captain navigates to the lobstering grounds off Cohasset, a fishing town on the south shore of Massachusetts. With the co-ordinates punched into their tablet, the captain launches the first trap from starboard, setting the other 19 on the trawl in motion, one by one disappearing beneath the surface.

From February to May, these waters are closed to traditional fishing gear because the vertical buoy lines that hang in the water column, connecting surface markers to traps or trawls on the ocean floor, pose an entanglement risk for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, which gathers here in late winter and early spring.

Instead, the Lanes use on-demand gear, which replaces the lines with an acoustic device housed in one of the traps. When it’s time to haul, the captain presses a button on the tablet, signalling the device to release a buoy to resurface the trap so they can retrieve the rest on the trawl.

“What does it mean to be able to be out fishing these areas? It means paying my mortgage,” says Capt. Lane, speaking from the wheelhouse.

The benefits extend beyond his own income. Using on-demand gear when whales are present helps offset fixed costs such as boat insurance and keeps others employed, from bait and fuel suppliers to his son as crewmate.

“It’s an industry – you have to keep all the parts working.”

Despite the existence of on-demand and other whale-safe fishing methods, right whale entanglement rates and severity of injuries have been rising from the early 2000s and since 2010, pushing the species closer to extinction.

Among the 372 remaining North Atlantic right whales, 86 per cent have been entangled at least once, and some as many as nine times. It is the primary cause of the whales’ decline, inflicting the most injuries and accounting for a leading cause of disappearance and death in the U.S. and Canada, where the whales migrate.

Research shows that the problem persists because adoption of whale-safe solutions remains alarmingly low and patchy across the whales’ range. As fishing activities increasingly encroach on the whales’ habitats, the urgency of the situation escalates. Continuing gear trials prove that these solutions work, but widespread adoption hinges on technical development, cost reduction, regulatory reform, and scaling the technology in both countries.

As the North Atlantic right whale population dwindles, the window to adapt may be closing fast.

Right whales predominantly entangle in lobster traps, crab pots, and finfish gillnets – fixed-gear that is set using vertical buoy lines and left untended to fish until retrieved. From 1980 to 2024, researchers recorded 1,910 entanglements. Twenty-three deaths were detected in the U.S. compared with nine in Canada. Ninety-two per cent of cases were identified by scarring rather than active entanglement, suggesting most of the whales broke free. But the magnitude of the problem far exceeds what is documented and reveals an escalating crisis.

The increased strength of fishing rope is one of the main drivers of the problem, says Amy Knowlton, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium in Boston. In the 1950s, rope manufacturing shifted from natural fibres to synthetic polypropylene, then to more durable copolymer ropes that combine polypropylene with polyethylene in the 1990s. The stronger ropes allowed fishing to move into offshore areas, where the whales feed, says Ms. Knowlton. Heavy-duty ropes also increase the severity of injuries – cutting into bone and muscle, and deforming flukes and flippers, even when whales manage to escape.

The consequences of entanglements are devastating for the population, leading to shortened body lengths, reduced reproductive success, premature mortality (with severely injured whales eight times more likely to die than those with minor injuries), and contributing to the species’ trajectory toward extinction. Even in cases where an entangled whale survives, its injuries can be lifethreatening.

Those statistics play out in heartbreaking individual stories. Snow Cone (#3560) gave birth while entangled in 2021, but eventually lost her calf and is now presumed dead – last seen in 2022 with gear so deeply embedded in her upper jaw that researchers observed she likely could never eat properly again.

While Calvin (#2223) has defied the odds, her story is equally harrowing. Orphaned at eight months, she has produced four calves despite eight entanglements. After enduring severe injuries from her most recent one, she was presumed dead following a three-year absence, but reappeared in April in the shipping lanes south of Massachusetts.

“If we just give them a chance and stop killing them, they can survive this gauntlet that we’ve set out for them,” says Kelsey Howe, an associate research scientist at the New England Aquarium who spotted Calvin again in early July in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The only way to eliminate vertical lines is fishing-area bans – an approach where Canada outperforms the United States.

Both countries operate prohibited zones where right whales are forecast to aggregate, called seasonal closings in the U.S. and static closings in Canada. But Canada goes further when whales are detected visually or acoustically.

Areas 2,000 square kilometres around the position of the detection – the equivalent of a land area three times the size of Toronto around a school bus – close for 15 days and only reopen to fixedgear fishing if whales are not seen or heard again during days nine to 15. If whales are redetected, closings typically extend for another 15 days, repeating the same parameters until none are observed.

Canadian fisheries also operate seasonally, often for a few months, compared with U.S. fisheries, which run year-round. Canadian lobster licences allow fewer traps per holder too, further reducing fishing activity and potential whale encounters.

“Where closures are a solution to entanglements, on-demand gear is a solution to closures,” says Sean Brillant, senior conservation biologist at the Canadian Wildlife Federation in Halifax with a PhD in experimental marine ecology.

On-demand or “ropeless” gear, which the Lanes use, limits vertical lines by storing buoy lines or inflatable bags on the sea floor and releasing them with acoustic signals. While the technology has existed since the late 1990s, serious testing for their use in fisheries only began in 2020.

Both countries now operate experimental fisheries requiring special permits, with fishers borrowing equipment from gearlending libraries, but adoption remains low. “However you cut it – and relative to the total number of harvesters in each country – there are very few who have adopted on-demand gear,” says Dr. Brillant, who manages the CanFISH Gear Lending program.

He estimates that fewer than 10 Canadian harvesters, who face area closings annually, currently use ropeless gear as part of their regular operations. That number grows to 100 when including fishers across Atlantic Canada and Quebec who face frequent closings and borrow the ropeless gear when required. And as many as 200 harvesters who are preparing for, but have not yet faced closures, have signed up for support from the library.

By comparison, the U.S. Northeast Fisheries Science Center authorizes up to 200 harvesters to use on-demand gear annually. But so far this year, NOAA Fisheries reports working with 74 fishers across five states.

Other approaches to mitigate entanglements include “sinking groundline,” ropes that rest on the sea floor rather than float in the water column where whales swim, which are required in most U.S. trap and pot gear fisheries under the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service’s Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan.

Since 2022, NOAA Fisheries has required low-breaking-strength ropes or “weak links” in buoy lines that are engineered to break at 1,700 pounds – a threshold based on Ms. Knowlton’s research paper, which found that switching to weaker ropes could reduce life-threatening entanglements by 72 per cent. Fishers also must “trawl up,” connecting multiple traps with fewer buoy lines instead of individual lines for each trap.

In Canada, weak ropes have been tested in some areas but are not mandatory. Neither are sinking groundlines or trawling up gear.

The country is taking a more cautious approach. “We’re basically in a learning phase,” says Edward Trippel, a research scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada with a PhD in zoology who works with industry and fishers to develop and test whale-safe gear.

Canadian trials – undertaken between 2021 and 2023 and funded by DFO’s $20-million Whalesafe Gear Adoption Fund – showed that while weak ropes are a simple, low-cost approach, they are not one-size-fits-all. For instance, a snow crab operation in deep water requires stronger rope than a lobster fishery in shallow bays, says Dr. Trippel. Trials also show that fishers worry about crew safety and gear loss if weak ropes break while hauling heavy catch or during severe weather, which is becoming more frequent because of climate change.

Among the barriers to on-demand technology adoption are costs and technical issues.

At roughly US$4,000 ($5,500) per acoustic release unit, plus US$4,500 ($6,200) each for deck boxes and signal transmitters, ondemand technology is costly. While on-demand gear shows lower loss rates (2.1 per cent versus 5 to 30 per cent for traditional gear), the high costs remain prohibitively expensive for many small-scale fishing enterprises.

“It’s particularly inaccessible for harvesters using numerous single traps,” says Dr. Trippel. This could create disparities too, resulting in inshore fisheries with small operators lagging larger offshore operations that can afford the technology.

Captain Lane, the Massachusetts lobsterman, who has tested on-demand systems for a decade, knows this tension well. He sees the benefit of whale-safe gear for small-scale fishing operations.

“I see this as being a small-trap fishery: 200 traps, 10 acoustic units, make a little money, be happy, and you go home,” he says.

As with any new innovation, costs should decrease as manufacturing scales up and technology matures.

Manufacturers such as EdgeTech, which makes acoustic releases, have scaled up production significantly but face uncertain demand.

“We started with what we can do, then we got to 100 a month, and we figure we could go up to 500 a month if we got the order,”

says product line manager Rob Morris. “But we’re kind of in limbo now, because we have so many systems out there, we’ve kind of flooded the market.”

On the technical side, U.S. ondemand gear trials found that 29 per cent to 53 per cent of equipment failures stemmed from mechanical issues such as rope snarls and line containment problems, while technological problems frequently entailed dead batteries, software glitches and connectivity issues. Operational difficulties such as user errors in rigging and detection problems in poor weather conditions continue to hamper reliability.

“It’s got to get the crap knocked out of it and still be working,” says Rob Martin, a commercial lobsterman turned gear specialist with NOAA Fisheries.

But despite the challenges, the technology has proven surprisingly user-friendly. “It takes me more time to explain how to do it, than actually if we were out fishing hauling this gear,” says Mr. Martin.

A particular sticking point is the capability to exchange and use information across systems.

“We need standardized, interoperable technology so different manufacturers’ systems can communicate with each other, allowing harvesters, enforcement agencies and other ocean users to see gear locations,” says Dr. Trippel, adding that it’s yet another reason Canada is moving cautiously.

That’s a problem regulators can fix, Ms. Knowlton says.

“This is an important next step and decisions to make this happen sit with the regulators, DFO and NOAA. The technology to allow communications between systems does exist,” she says.

Mr. Morris says the industry is working to address gear conflict. The company has released a Trap Tracker app that enables fishers to mark, map and record trap positions in the cloud, but he agrees regulators must act.

“The nuts to crack are the regulations,” Mr. Morris says.

Rachel Hager, a spokesperson for NOAA Fisheries, says the federal agency recognizes the significant challenges involved in implementing ropeless fishing gear on a broad scale. The department has outlined a road map for this transition in its On-Demand Gear Guide.

“We are committed to working with our partners, industry, and stakeholders to find creative solutions to these challenges,” she says.

Tomie White, a spokesperson for DFO, says the department is working directly with fish harvesters and gear manufacturers to develop and implement whalesafe gear pilots in commercial fisheries as well as advance Canada’s Whalesafe Gear Strategy.

“DFO also continues to engage with industry, manufacturers, and enforcement to identify and address operational and enforcement considerations to facilitate more widespread use of whalesafe gear, including on-demand gear, in the future,” he said.

When it comes to regulations, the policy landscape itself cycles between pushing progress and driving uncertainty.

U.S. laws have led to policy changes in both countries, particularly following the 2017 “Unusual Mortality Event” when North Atlantic right whales faced their worst die-off since researchers began tracking them. The crisis prompted both nations to ramp up fishing area closures and implement whale-safe gear.

The U.S. has relied on its trade leverage to push for international action. Earlier this month, NOAA Fisheries released its determination under the 2016 Marine Mammal Protection Act rule requiring nations that export seafood to the U.S. to adopt comparable bycatch prevention measures. Repeatedly delayed, the decision found Canada to be among the 89 countries in compliance with U.S. standards, while 42 nations, including Mexico, China, Ecuador, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey, failed to meet requirements and will face seafood import restrictions. The bans are set to take effect in January, 2026.

Canada, meanwhile, relies on adaptive management, annually adjusting entanglement mitigation measures and developing longer-term action plans such as DFO’s promised Whalesafe Gear Strategy. The plan was scheduled for spring release, but Mr. White with DFO could not specify when it would be published.

Last month, the ocean charity Oceana Canada again urged DFO to release the strategy, calling on the department to identify highrisk areas for permanent ropeless fishing by 2026.

“Everyone needs to see the strategy. Without it there is uncertainty for the fishers and everyone involved. Fishers just want to know the rules and expectations going into 2026,” says Kim Elmslie, senior campaign director. “This is a critically endangered species, so we need to act now – and, at the same time, we can redefine sustainable fishing in Canada.”

The U.S. system, by contrast, is often hamstrung by congressional and court decisions.

A congressional mandate in December, 2022, for example, prevents NOAA Fisheries from implementing any additional right whale protection measures until January, 2029. The decision, buried in federal spending legislation, deemed state and federal lobster fishery authorizations in compliance with endangered species laws through 2028 – effectively freezing new regulations during a critical period for right whale recovery. As of late July, another congressional effort is considering a 10-year moratorium to delay any new lobster fishery regulations related to North Atlantic right whale protections until 2035.

Both countries face fierce opposition from lobster associations, highlighting the inherent conflict faced by NOAA and DFO in promoting commercial fisheries while also conserving endangered whales.

Industry acceptance, which differs dramatically between fishing communities, also creates geographic disparities in whale-safe gear adoptions. Cultural resistance is particularly strong in Maine, which is home to the largest commercial lobster fishery in the U.S. and where the industry has historically opposed gear modifications. The result: neighbouring Massachusetts waters have greater whale-safe protections while Maine waters lag behind, creating dangerous gaps as whales move along the coast.

Legal battles are particularly concentrated in the U.S., with some industry-led cases seeking to obstruct progress on whale recovery measures while other conservation-minded efforts push to expedite them.

In Canada, last year DFO overturned its own closure in a shallow-water Lobster Fishing Area off the coast of New Brunswick immediately following industry opposition that argued the closure would have forced hundreds of lobstermen to remove tens of thousands of traps.

Resistance might budge if fishers consider whale-safe gear “a tool in their toolbox” says Mr. Martin, compared to the alternative: “If you are faced with a closure, closed is closed, you’re not going fishing.”

Andrea Morden, manager of whales and marine conservation targets at DFO, defends Canada’s cautious approach to implementing whale-safe gear requirements.

“The number one priority for us is implementing measures that are safe and effective, that prevent whale entanglements from occurring in the first place,” she says.

Still, reactive approaches – such as removing abandoned gear and disentangling whales – remain necessary.

Gear marking, which establishes ownership and helps researchers understand how and where whales become entangled, has been required across Canada since 2010. The U.S., meanwhile, has significant gaps: Maine resisted gear marking in state waters for years, and until recently, Maine and Massachusetts used identical red markers in federal waters, making it impossible to determine the source of entangling gear.

Canada also requires fishermen to report lost gear and can penalize those who do not – a system unique among fishing nations. Starting in 2017-18, Canada ramped up these reporting requirements, including public reporting through the Lost Fishing Gear Reporting system. In 201920, the country established a Ghost Gear Fund and action plan. The U.S. has been slower to act, but Massachusetts recently launched a similar Derelict Fishing Gear policy.

Whale disentanglement remains a dangerous last resort. The work requires specialized groups such as the Canadian Whale Institute’s Campobello Whale Rescue team, which last year successfully freed a calf, now known as #5312, an effort that was filmed for a documentary.

“These interventions highlight the critical need for prevention rather than reaction,” Ms. Knowlton says.

Back on Massachusetts Bay, Captain Lane’s on-demand gear fails to deploy not once but twice. However, his onboard tablet allows him to position over the device, so he can manually grapple the trap from the sea floor. Rather than seeing failure, he views it as progress. “It allowed the 20-trap trawl to stay on the sea floor with no vertical lines,” he says.

The problem with not having whale-safe gear on hand, the captain says, is that it limits one of the most important qualities of a successful fisher: adaptation.

“If you can’t put a buoy in the water, then how do you go fishing? How do you adapt to changes if you just can’t go?”

This story is part of a series produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network.