Joint US-Canada Zooplankton Workshop on Modeling Abundance and Distribution of Zooplankton Prey for North Atlantic Right Whales in Canadian and U.S. Coastal and Shelf Waters

Over 30 regional experts in zooplankton oceanography and North Atlantic right whale (NARW) management met virtually over four days in September to coordinate Canadian and U.S. approaches to understanding NARW foraging habitat and applications to NARW conservation strategies. The population of NARW, now at approximately 400 individuals, has been declining since 2010 and their foraging habitat has been shifting from the Gulf of Maine in summer/fall to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The causes for this decline are associated with a decline in abundance and shift in distribution of the planktonic copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, the principal prey of the NARW and an increase in mortality due to ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement as the NARW move to new foraging areas.

There is a need to include the best knowledge about present and future patterns of C. finmarchicus abundance into NARW foraging habitat models used to inform U.S. and Canadian regulations and guidance to the shipping and fishing industries. The workshop provided an opportunity for exchange of information about NARW management, zooplankton data sharing, and zooplankton modeling approaches. An important outcome of the workshop was the creation of cross-border working groups to coordinate data sharing and deliver products useful to NARW conservation measures. A third working group was formed to identify and coordinate research on the causes of NARW foraging habitat change, for which there is strong evidence that climate drivers have resulted in warming and shifts in currents supplying water into the Gulf of Maine, affecting zooplankton abundance and distribution. For further information, please contact Gulf of Maine MBON PI Jeffrey Runge: jeffrey.runge@maine.edu.