Author: Joey Ciaramitaro

NOAA Fisheries and our partners are dedicated to conserving and rebuilding the North Atlantic right whale population, which is endangered, declining, and experiencing an ongoing Unusual Mortality Event.

Entanglement in commercial fishing gear is a primary cause of mortalities and serious injuries of North Atlantic right whales. Working with the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team—a group of advisors consisting of fishermen, scientists, conservationists, and state and federal officials—we have completed Phase 1 of the modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to continue to reduce whale entanglements.

Today, we are announcing the final rule to modify the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. The gear modifications required by the rule will go into effect May 1, 2022, which is the start of the American lobster/Jonah crab fishing year. The changes to the seasonally restricted areas will go into effect 30 days after the publication of this rule.

We would like to thank the many stakeholders who submitted more than 200,000 public comments on the proposed rule. The comments guided us in modifying the final rule to allow more flexibility for fishermen, while still achieving the necessary risk reduction to make a real difference for right whales. These measures will reduce the deaths and serious injuries to North Atlantic right whales due to entanglements in U.S. commercial fishing gear, and will contribute to the recovery of this endangered population.

Final Rule Measures

The rule modifies regulations for the Northeast lobster and Jonah crab trap/pot fisheries as follows: 

• Modify gear marking to introduce state-specific colors for gear marks and increase the number of gear markings and areas requiring marked lines.
• Modify gear configurations to reduce the number of vertical lines by requiring more traps between buoy lines.
• Require weak insertions or weak rope in buoy lines.
• Modify existing seasonal closure/restricted areas to allow ropeless fishing.
• Add two new seasonal restricted areas.
• Following changes made by Massachusetts, extend the Massachusetts Restricted Area (MRA) to add state waters north to the New Hampshire border.

Performances September 3-19 at Windhover Performing Arts Center in Rockport

The GLOUCESTER STAGE COMPANY is pleased to announce the New England premiere of REPARATIONS, by award-winning playwright James Sheldon and directed by critically acclaimed writer and award-winning actress Myriam Cyr. Coming to Gloucester Stage from its world premiere at the Billie Holiday Theater in New York, Reparations won Best Play, 2020 Audelco Awards, an organization that acknowledges and honors Black Theatre and its artists in New York City. With performances at Windhover Center for Performing Arts, Reparations opens on Friday, September 3, and runs through September 19. 

“Reparations is a thoughtful and complex drama that we are excited to share with our audience,” said Robert Walsh, Artistic Director of the Gloucester Stage Company.

Reparations tells the story of a recently widowed white book editor who invites a younger black writer to her apartment, only to find that a night of tenderness and passion turns into a complex and unforeseen morning-after when he threatens to reveal a dark secret. As family friends join them for an ill-timed Upper East Side lunch, all four are soon embroiled in whether the young writer is due reparation. Personal revelations lead to laughs, tears, and coming to terms with racial injustice and personal betrayal in this poignant play.

The multi-talented, critically acclaimed actress, writer, and producer Myriam Cyr will be making her directorial debut at Gloucester Stage, leading an all-star cast from film, stage, and television in the regional premiere of Sheldon’s newest play. Reparations stars the accomplished Jason Bowen (Reg Ambrose), Angela Pierce (Ginny Pleasance), Malcolm Ingram (Alistair Jacobs), and Lisa Tharps (Millie Jacobs), who are all also making their Gloucester Stage Company debut.

“We are honored to bring James Sheldon’s newest play to Boston,” said Gloucester Stage’s Managing Director Christopher Griffith. “This exceptional cast is going to spark a conversation onstage that will follow audiences home.”

Reparations will run from September 3 through September 19. Performances are outdoors Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 3:30 pm at Windhover Performing Arts Center, 257R Granite St, Rockport, MA. Tickets are now on sale and available at GloucesterStage.com.

Photo Cheryl Dubinsky

It was worth the wait!