We are pleased to announce the following paper has now been published
*in print*, and *online open access*
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12105/abstract> in
Conservation Letters. This paper is relevant to the *new proposed
critical habitat to North Atlantic right whales in US waters*
<http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/stories/2015/february/RightWhaleCriticalHabitat.html>.
van der Hoop, J. M., Vanderlaan, A. S. M., Cole, T. V. N., Henry, A. G.,
Hall, L., Mase-Guthrie, B., Wimmer, T. and Moore, M. J. (2015), Vessel
Strikes to Large Whales Before and After the 2008 Ship Strike Rule.
Conservation Letters, 8: 24--32. doi: 10.1111/conl.12105
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12105/abstract
To determine effectiveness of Seasonal Management Areas (SMAs),
introduced in 2008 on the U.S. East Coast to reduce lethal vessel
strikes to North Atlantic right whales, we analyzed observed large whale
mortality events from 1990--2012 in the geographic region of the "Ship
Strike Rule" to identify changes in frequency, spatial distribution, and
spatiotemporal interaction since implementation. Though not directly
coincident with SMA implementation, right whale vessel-strike
mortalities significantly declined from 2.0 (2000--2006) to 0.33 per
year (2007--2012). Large whale vessel-strike mortalities have decreased
inside active SMAs, and increased outside inactive SMAs. We detected no
significant spatiotemporal interaction in the 4-year pre- or post-Rule
periods, although a longer time series is needed to detect these
changes. As designed, SMAs encompass only 36% of historical right whale
vessel-strike mortalities, and 32% are outside managed space but within
managed timeframes. We suggest increasing spatial coverage to improve
the Rule's effectiveness.
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Julie van der Hoop
PhD Candidate
MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography
Woods Hole MA 02543
http://www.whoi.edu/profile/jvanderhoop/
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