HELP PROTECT CRITICALLY ENDANGERED NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES FROM EXTINCTION

Urgent: The Canadian government must release and implement its long-promised Whalesafe Fishing Gear strategy to protect whales and keep fisheries open.

North Atlantic right whales are on the edge of extinction and could be lost forever if the government doesn’t take immediate action. With only around 370 individuals left, this iconic species could vanish within our lifetime if Canada doesn’t act to protect them.

Entanglements in fishing gear and ship strikes are the leading causes of death for right whales, but they can be prevented. Currently, the federal government implements annual measures to protect whales from these threats. Addressing threats as a year-to-year crisis is not an effective solution. North Atlantic right whales need long-term and permanent protection from entanglements and ship strikes.

Entanglements
Whales are unintentionally entangled in vertical fishing ropes and these entanglements are often fatal. To keep whales safe, the government is closing high-risk fishing areas when whales are present. These closures impact Canada’s most valuable trap-based fisheries — snow crab and lobster — and cause ripple effects across coastal communities, the seafood industry, and international trade. Whalesafe fishing gear such as ropeless gear has no vertical ropes and implementing it in Canada would help prevent entanglements and allow fishers to keep fishing.

Ship Strikes
Slowing ships is important to protect whales from deadly collisions. Key areas for right whale migration and feeding are particularly important for permanent and mandatory measures to slow ships. Data shows that asking ships to slowdown voluntarily in the Cabot Strait, the entry point into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, isn’t resulting in compliance. Ships still go above 10 knots continuing to put whales at risk. If speed limits were mandatory, compliance would be more effective.

Canada needs a better path forward — one that protects whales from entanglements and ship strikes while supporting both fisheries and commerce.

Now is the moment for Canadian leadership in whale protection and industry. Help save right whales from extinction. Tell the government to release and implement the Whalesafe Fishing Gear Strategy and extend mandatory and permanent measures to slow ships down.

Speak up now, before these whales are gone forever.

The Honourable

Joanne

Thompson

Department of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Minister

Chrystia

Freeland

Ministry of Transport and Internal Trade

Dear Minister Joanne Thompson, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Trade,

North Atlantic right whales are one of the most endangered whales in the world, with only around 370 individuals left. Between 2017 and July 2025, 157 right whales died, were seriously injured, or are in poor health. In 2024, 10 right whales became entangled in fishing gear, and six of those occurred in Canadian waters.  With increasing threats of entanglement and ship strikes, Canada must do more to implement long-term and permanent protections for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Without action, Canada risks watching their extinction off our shores.

The threats to these whales, entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes, are preventable. The current approach of treating these threats as a year-to-year emergency is not working. Canada needs permanent and mandatory measures. As the Ministers of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada, you can protect these endangered whales from entanglements in fishing gear and ship strikes. Canada has the tools needed to change the trajectory of these whales from extinction to recovery.

That’s why I’m joining Oceana Canada in calling on you to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales:

●	Release and implement the Whalesafe Fishing Gear Strategy. Ensure the strategy designates ropeless-only fishing zones in high-risk entanglement areas by 2026.

●	Expand ropeless gear trials and make the technology accessible to more harvesters.

●	Create permanent and mandatory vessel slowdowns in high-risk areas like the Cabot Strait when right whales are in Canadian waters.

●	Continue to expand the use of a comprehensive array of technologies (including acoustic, satellite and infra-red) to look for right whales and to better understand their movements in Canadian waters.

The survival of North Atlantic right whales and Canada’s leadership in sustainable ocean policy depends on bold action now. Please stand up for North Atlantic right whales.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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