R. Westerman Pew
Spring 2025
Human Wildlife Conflict
Human Wildlife Conflict Level of Conflict Analysis:
Maine Lobster Industry vs. North Atlantic Right Whale Conservationists
1. Introduction
The North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) is a critically endangered Right Whale that has been plagued by multiple human caused threats. One of, if not the most, harmful of these modern threats is entanglement with various forms of fishing equipment. When a marine organism becomes entangled it can lead to a slow and painful death where the animal can not function the way it ought to be able were it not entangled. This can entail higher energy output, decreased ability to swim, obtain food, reproduce, and increased likelihood of developing infection and sickness (Christiansen et al., 2020). With every individual NARW being crucial to the genetic diversity and hopes for population growth of the species, this threat must be addressed to reduce the number of unnecessary, human caused NARW deaths, and prevent their extinction. The issue has sparked conflict around where the blame for these entanglements fall, with the Maine lobster industry receiving much of it. Whether they are responsible, and for what extent of the situation, is highly debated, with the issue repeatedly being disputed in court. In this paper I will conduct a Level of Conflict (LoC) analysis on the controversy around this situation, examining each level: dispute, underlying, and identity based/deep rooted.