Letters

The December 4 edition of The Press prominently reported on a 1907 local barbaric killing of a female right whale [“Plan Brews To Return Right Whale Skeleton To Amagansett,” 27east.com, November 22]. The killing of that female right whale contributed directly to the current unsustainable right whale population levels, as did the killing of many other right whales in this area. This is nothing to be proud of at this point.

A recent Oceana publication titled “Last Chance for Survival for North Atlantic Right Whales” states that approximately 400 North Atlantic right whales remain, and fewer than 100 of them are breeding females. The publication states that one of the two greatest threats to right whale survival is entanglement in fishing gear. Recently, a right whale named Punctuation that passed away “had been entangled in fishing gear at least five different times. That is five times that she had heavy lines cutting into her flesh.”

The article also states: “… slow brutal deaths from entanglement in fishing gear picked off some of Punctuation’s offspring … the trauma caused by chronic fishing gear entanglements and other stressors has now increased the calving interval to every 10 years.”

The commercial fishing industry has directly (right whale hunting) and indirectly (fishing equipment entanglements) contributed to the right whale threat of extinction.

Shouldn’t the concern locally be contributing to bringing the right whale population back to a sustainable level, rather than spending millions to bring a dead right whale to Amagansett? Doesn’t the threat to right whale survival require the minimization and eventually the elimination of local commercial fishing, not only for right whale sustainability but for the sustainability of all ocean inhabitants?

Randy Johnston

East Hampton