Entanglement in commercial fishing ropes threatens the recovery of the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), a species largely restricted to waters off of eastern North America. In recent years, serious entanglements have been increasing, and mortality from conflicts with fishing operations exceeds US legal mandates, with 83% of the population showing incidence of scarring as a consequence of these encounters.

In the absence of direct observations of entanglement events involving baleen whales, the goal of this project is to better understand the dynamics of rope entanglements using computer models.

The Consortium is testing whether ropes that have greater stiffness or fish under greater tension may be effective for reducing entanglements.  The stiffness or tension would reduce the ability of the rope to bend, allowing animals to slide off any rope encountered.  The Consortium is measuring rope tension under different environmental conditions and studying the fisheries that use tense rope to determine how effective it may be to reduce bycatch.    

Scientists believe that vertical fishing lines pose a serious entanglement threat to whales. In 2012, New England Aquarium scientists tested whether whales could see and avoid different color vertical lines.