|
|
|
Feature Articles
|
Stellwagen Bank sanctuary to examine fishing
|
This article is reprinted with permission of Commercial Fisheries News, the Northeast's fishing newspaper for over 30 years, ©2003 Compass Publications Inc. Commercial Fisheries News is published monthly; annual subscriptions are $21.95. To subscribe or request a sample issue: call (877) 263-4496; fax (207) 367-2490; e-mail (cfoster@fish-news.com); or click on the hot link.
by Lorelei Stevens
SCITUATE, MA - There are a couple of familiar fishing industry faces on the Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary's new advisory council, which is probably a good thing since the future of fishing within the sanctuary will be an important issue during the next few years.
Bill Adler of Marshfield, MA, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, is filling the "fixed gear commercial fishing" seat and Bill Amaru of South Orleans, MA, owner/operator of the Joanne A III, is the "mobile gear commercial fishing" representative on the advisory council.
The sanctuary advisory council is made up of 21 individuals, 12 of whom represent specific stakeholder groups. In addition to the two commercial fishing slots, there are seats for whale watching, ocean conservation, marine transportation, recreation, business/industry, research, and education interests.
Another three advisory council seats are held by "citizens-at-large" from New England -- New England Fishery Management Council member John Williamson of Kennebunk, ME was appointed to one of them -- and six seats are held by government agencies with interests or jurisdictions within the sanctuary (see sidebar next page for complete list).
Fishing's future?
Established by Congress in 1992, the Stellwagen sanctuary is one of 13 marine sanctuaries in the US and the only one currently designated in the Northeast. It covers an 842-square-mile area of open water and seafloor at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay between Cape Ann and Cape Cod.
|
The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary covers an 842-square-mile area of open water and seafloor at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay between Cape Ann and Cape Cod. When created in 1992, fishermen were led to believe the designation would not hamper traditional commercial fishing activities. Whether that continues to be true may be at issue within the sanctuary mission to conserve and enhance its biodiversity and ecological integrity.
|
At the time it was created, fishermen were led to believe that traditional commercial fishing activities would be unhampered by the sanctuary designation.
But with the recent surge in interest in establishing marine protected areas, concerns over human interactions with endangered whales, demands for protection of "essential fish habitat," and the clamor by some environmentalists to end "clear-cutting" of the ocean bottom by draggers, the pressure is on for additional restrictions.
"Fishing activities in the sanctuaries are a concern and probably always will be," said Stellwagen sanctuary Superintendent Craig MacDonald in mid-October.
MacDonald pointed out that while the sanctuary's mission does include considering the "cultural legacy" of the area, the mission also directs sanctuary managers to "conserve and enhance the biodiversity (and) ecological integrity" of the sanctuary.
Plan review process
The Stellwagen sanctuary is governed by a management plan that was originally implemented in 1993. At the recommendation of Congress, the sanctuary plan is supposed to be reviewed every five years so that appropriate changes can be made.
This process started in 1998 with several scoping meetings. According to the sanctuary web site, the comments offered during those meetings were heavily weighted in favor of further restricting commercial fishing activities.
The comments contained:
- "Concerns about how to mitigate bottom damage within the sanctuary from trawling and dredging";
- Concerns that the current trawl exclusion zone imposed by the Western Gulf of Maine Closed Area, which covers about 22% of the sanctuary, encompasses "only a corner of the bank" and that the corner includes only sandy bottom habitat;
- Concerns that there should be a "representative and contiguous set of bottom habitats (including boulder reefs, gravel bottom, and muddy basins, as well as sandy bottom) protected from disturbance";
- Recommendations that "regulation of fishing within the sanctuary should encompass no-take marine protected zones"; and
- Concerns that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) "is not adequately doing its job in protecting fisheries resources."
Little more has been done on revising the management plan until now because the sanctuary manager's position was vacant for a time. Momentum is building again, however, with MacDonald's appointment last spring and with the announcement in October of the advisory council appointments.
Working with industry
MacDonald stressed that sanctuary managers want to work closely with the fishing community and win industry support for any changes that might be adopted down the road.
He said he will recommend to the advisory council that it establish working groups to consider management plan issues in depth, adding that he hopes many more industry representatives will participate in revision of the management plan in that way.
"The plan review process may well be a way to reach out to the fishing community," MacDonald said.
He also wanted to reassure fishermen that the sanctuary does not intend to create yet another overlapping layer of fisheries management bureaucracy.
"We don't view ourselves as an additional regulatory body that controls the lives of fishermen," MacDonald said. "If it turns out there are fish issues, we will bring those to the New England council and NMFS."
Finally, he encouraged fishermen interested in cooperative research to get in touch with him to explore possible opportunities inside the sanctuary's borders.
"Certain research is compatible with the interests of the sanctuary. If there are fishermen out there talking to scientists, I'd be interested in talking to them," MacDonald said.
For more information, call Craig MacDonald at (781) 545-8026 or visit the Stellwagen marine sanctuary web site at http://stellwagen.nos.noaa.gov.
|
|
