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Feature Articles
Reprinted from Commercial Fisheries News
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Sea Grant sponsoring regionwide MPA workshops
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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
ROCKPORT, ME - The Sea Grant programs of Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut will present workshops in February and March on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
The workshops will look at MPAs from a fisheries management perspective and will seek to provide up-to-date information to lay a foundation for future policy discussions.
The sessions will be held as follows:
- Maine, Feb. 27 - Maine Fishermen's Forum, Samoset Resort, Rockport, ME, all-day. Contact Paul Anderson at (207) 581-1435 or panderson@maine.edu. Or visit the forum web site at www.mainefishermensforum.org.
- Rhode Island, March 1 - Corless Auditorium, University of Rhode Island Bay Campus, Narragansett, RI, 1 pm-5 pm. Contact Kathy Castro at (401) 874-5063 or kcastro@uri.edu.
- New Hampshire, March 7 - Urban Forestry Center, Portsmouth, NH, 1 pm-5 pm. Contact Rollie Barnaby at (603) 679-5616 or rollie.barnaby@unh.edu. And
- Connecticut, March 8 - University of Connecticut at Avery Point, New London, CT, 1 pm-5 pm. Contact Nancy Balcom at (860) 405-9127 or balcom@uconnvm.uconn.edu.
ME forum agenda
Maine Sea Grant has developed a separate agenda for its all-day session at the Maine Fishermen's Forum on Feb. 27.
That session will include: an overview of MPAs; a discussion of the scientific evidence related to the efficacy of MPAs as a tool in fisheries management; presentations on the successes and failures in the processes of implementing MPAs around the country; and a facilitated discussion on developing an inclusive process for moving towards a system of MPAs in the Gulf of Maine based on consensus.
Other session formats
Sessions in the other three New England states will address the following questions:
- What is an MPA, why are they established, and how do they function?
- What are the differences between MPAs, marine management areas, marine reserves, and marine sanctuaries?
- What does Executive Order 13158 require and how is it being implemented?
- What is happening on the federal, regional, and state levels regarding MPA initiatives?
- How many MPAs are there now and where are they located? And
- Who makes the decision about whether an MPA will be established, where it will be located, and how big it will be?
These sessions also will include discussions on: whether no-take zones are effective fishery management tools; theoretical impacts of MPAs on fisheries; a review of existing protected areas in the New England region; and an examination of a case study in the Northeast region.
For more info on specific agendas and speakers, visit the regional Sea Grant web site at http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/northeast.
This is the second in a series of New England workshops that began last fall with "Bycatch as it Relates to New England Fisheries." The series will continue in the spring with "Property Rights in Fisheries Management."
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