CHEK, News Poll. Save the Whales, get rid of sports anglers.

[Samnjoe]

First off I am not saying angling closures are necessary in the circumstances. However most marine commercial traffic are under speed restrictions. Other areas have recommended reductions that many operators follow. It's claimed noise levels from that traffic is down substantially (40% to 60%).
I have been on BC Ferries a few times when the boat passed whales and they slowed down to about 5 knots. I've been on a whale watching cruise and when the boat was near whales, they shut the engine off. Most marine traffic transits through an area where whales are present. As I mentioned above fishing boats tend to loiter in the same are for extended periods. For example a couple of summers ago I counted about 3 dozen boats fishing near the south end of Mitlenatch Island.

Those "loitering" fishermen generally leave when Orcas move in. No point being there as the disturbed whales are happily eating the target species.

 

[RalphH]

There is a lot of good points raised. While I don't own a power boat I certainly think about it. So it occurs to me that if I did I could motor through these areas now closed to fishing, obey the existing speed limits and keep my distance from Orcas with no issue.

As far as it being a "convenient theory" it is certainly a theory but there is accepted data that shows the SRKWs do react to boat noise - they vocalize less but then I don't see that there is good evidence as to if and to what extent feeding behaviour is disrupted.

 

[Whole in the Water]

Yes they do react to boat noise - but if you look at the research the big problem is not little 9.9 hp kickers running in 1-2 ft of water (as the sound from them does not travel that far in the underwater environment mostly because of the higher frequency it is at and the shallow depth).

It is the large commercial ships with the huge diesel engines deeper in the water producing very low frequencies that travel the furthest and deepest. This is the real problem. DFO knows this but they are just caving in to the ENGO's to limit the public fishery for political, not science based reasons.