WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — June 16, 2015 — Today, at its meeting in Newport, Rhode Island, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) gave final approval to a plan that will restructure the network of closed areas off the coast of New England to improve habitat protections and open access to key fishing grounds. The proposal, the NEFMC Habitat Committee’s preferred alternative for Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 (OHA2), is the end result of over a decade of work to update New England’s habitat closures according to the latest and most up-to-date knowledge of marine habitats. The alternative has wide support among New England’s diverse fishing industry and fishing communities, including New Bedford, Mass. Mayor Jon Mitchell, Mass. House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. William Straus, and the Fisheries Survival Fund, representing the majority of limited access scallop permit holders.
The Committee preferred alternative takes full advantage of the scientific developments and the tremendous leaps in understanding of seafloor habitats that have occurred in the past 10 years. Using newly developed tools like the Swept Area Seabed Impact (SASI) model and other analytical methods, those working on updating OHA2 have identified valuable and vulnerable habitats in most need of protecting. These include gravel-cobble habitats that are particularly susceptible to disturbances from fishing and which provide important refuge for juvenile and spawning groundfish, as well as areas that include groundfish spawning hotspots in need of protection. This has led to the creation of a new closure in the Georges Shoals area of Georges Bank, with new protections for over 500 square nautical miles of gravel-cobble habitat. Also closed are similarly sensitive areas in the eastern portion of Georges Bank, including parts of the critically important Northern Edge.
Some environmental organizations have promulgated claims that this plan reduces habitat protections by 70 percent, but these allegations overlook vital improvements in the quality of protections being implemented. While the new protected areas will be smaller, they are substantially more valuable, tailored in a way to maximize their effectiveness while minimizing their economic impact. They will be paired with the continuation of some existing closures, such as the Northern Edge Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC), that have proven to be effective in preserving essential habitats. It also includes a one-year exemption for the surf clam fishery, to allow them to collect data and develop alternative closures for clam gear. This will improve on the status quo, as there are no current restrictions placed on clam harvesting.
The Committee preferred alternative passed by the NEFMC today provides greater opportunities for fishermen, but without ultimately sacrificing the quality of habitat protections. It allows fishermen and scallopers to access critically important fishing grounds that are currently off-limits. The benefits of this are two-fold. It creates new economic opportunities for fishermen and scallopers by opening up productive fishing grounds, but also minimizes fishing time and maximizes efficiency by increasing Catch per Unit of Effort (CPUE). By increasing CPUE, fishermen and scallopers are able to catch much more of their allotted quotas in a much smaller amount of time, which in turn leads to much less contact between fishing gear and the seafloor. This minimizes habitat disruptions and benefits habitat protection in the long run.
The Council’s vote today is the culmination of a decade-long collaboration between local fishermen, fisheries managers, scientists, and other stakeholders. It will ensure that, once implemented, Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 protects habitat areas in New England and continues to serve the needs of our ecosystem and historic fishing communities.