Martin Noel

Roles: Special Guest

In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, snow crab fisher Martin Noël is conducting the first real- world test of ropeless fishing technology in the North Atlantic. Fishing gear entanglement is the leading cause of right whale injury and mortality, 85 percent of the population has been entangled at least once. Noël is also one of four fishermen from Shippagan, New Brunswick to form a whale rescue team in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Disentangling whales is a dangerous activity; in 2017 fisherman Joe Howlett with the Campobello Whale Rescue Team died trying to free an entangled whale. Noël’s commitment to saving the right whale recasts the fisher’s role in the saga of the right whale. Noël is a third generation fisher from Shippagan, New Brunswick on the tip of Canada’s Acadian Peninsula, and President of the Association of Professional Acadian Crab Fishermen. Since 2018, following 12 right whale deaths in Canadian waters, annual seasonal closure to fishing areas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence has impacted Canada’s snow crab fishing communities. Ropeless technology remains a controversial solution amongst fishers although it has been used commercially in Australia since 2012.