Bay Plan Becomes Nearshore Plan

by Laurie Schreiber

One of the many charts, graphs, and photos among the lengthy text of the report. Clam flat closures have increased, they are one marker of changes. Map prepared by College of the Atlantic

AUGUSTA – Maine has more than 5,000 miles of coastline and nearly 2 million acres of submerged public lands.

In 2004, it was estimated that Maine’s coastal economy employed 45,685 people and resulted in $1.2 billion in annual wages.

Maine’s nearshore environment is recognized for its central importance to the state’s economy and way of life. But the environment faces increasing and intensifying uses.

“While the sea remains a constant source of sustenance, the lifeblood of Maine, the uses which our society makes of this diverse and complex resource are changing, diversifying, and intensifying,” says a new study. “Long a frontier, and in many ways a true public commons, our nearshore ocean environment is becoming increasingly settled and populated in the wake of these many changes. Aquaculture has joined traditional capture fisheries as an economically significant use in a number of areas. Sea kayaks and other types of recreational watercraft, large and small, have increasingly joined fishing boats at town landings. More second-home buyers and retirees have joined coastal communities that have been for generations home to families that earn their livings on the water. With changes in national and world energy markets, Maine is now a proposed host for regionally significant energy infrastructure, including liquefied natural gas terminals.”

Managing Maine’s Nearshore Coastal Resources is the final report to come from a directive in the legislature’s 2004 Bay Management bill, which required the Land and Water Resources Committee, through the Department of Marine Resources and State Planning Office, to evaluate the potential for regional management of coastal waters. The agencies submitted their report to the Marine Resources Committee in January.

“With Maine’s coastal waters under growing pressure, user conflicts and environmental degradation will likely increase,” the report concludes. “At the same time, there are signs that Maine’s current methods of nearshore management need improvement. Without embarking on these improvements to management, the health of the marine environment, the livelihoods and recreation that depend on it, and the essence of Maine’s character may be at risk.”

SPO and DMR staff have been meeting with coastal stakeholders over the past two years, assessing two local pilot projects.

The study takes place in the context of renewed national attention to ocean resources. The federally appointed U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy submitted recommendations for creating a comprehensive ocean policy in 2004. The Pew Ocean Commission’s privately funded analysis of similar topics was completed in 2003.

“While these reports focus on the national and multi-state regional scale,” the study says, “they present a vision of healthy, resilient marine ecosystems to which we strive to contribute in Maine.”

For starters, the report recommends a change in terms from “bay management” to “nearshore management.”

“The term ‘bay management’ was found to be confusing, meaning different things to different people,” the report says. “This study does not recommend a new bay-by-bay management structure or a division of the coast into management districts. Rather, it recommends a suite of changes to the state’s approach to nearshore management that will better protect the integrity of Maine’s nearshore areas for use by current and future generations.”

In accordance with the common law Public Trust Doctrine, the state holds state-owned submerged lands—those lands below the mean low-tide line to the three-mile limit of state ownership—in trust for the benefit of the people of Maine. The doctrine recognizes a wide range of public uses of these submerged lands, including navigation, commerce, fishing, recreation and conservation.

Looking from Taunton Bay across the Skillings River to Frenchmen’s Bay and Mount Desert Island. Many miles of coastline have supported many generations of Mainers with fisheries that include, clams, alewives, seaweed, mussels, worms, oysters, lobster and others. Much of the coast is a complex, varied and productive resource. Department of Marine Resources photo

The report identifies specific trends in nearshore use. Boat traffic is on the increase from all quarters. There’s more cargo traffic, primarily at the three major ports of Portland, Searsport and Eastport. Cruise ships are on the increase, mainly in Portland and Bar Harbor but with possible growth in visits expected at smaller ports.

Ferries are seeing a slight increase in ridership. Boating, demand for moorings, marina use, and dock use are all on the rise. More people than ever are sea kayaking.

Nonpoint source pollution, marine debris and toxic pollution continue to be persistent problems, although point source pollution, such as overboard discharge, has seen some decrease.

The fisheries and aquaculture have their ups and downs. Both finfish and shellfish farming are expected to increase, as is the amount of lobster gear. Urchins, sea scallops, soft shell clams, shrimp, seaweed, and herring are all seeing a decrease in the number of licensed fishermen. Shrimping is expected to continue to the west, marine worm and sea cucumber harvesting will likely remain a mid-coast and Down East fishery, and herring is expected to remain strong offshore.

As part of the bay management study, two pilot projects were conducted to get a closer focus on the issues and potential ways to move forward.
The Friends of Taunton Bay compiled data and maps about the bay and its uses and developed management principles. The Muscongus Bay Committee identified regional concerns and created maps. Taunton is a small, enclosed bay surrounded by three towns, located in the upper part of Frenchman Bay. Muscongus is a larger, open bay in the midcoast region surrounded by 10 towns.

The Taunton Bay study, conducted with the help of the DMR, was submitted in January to the Marine Resources Committee.

The report was mandated in legislation, and in 2000 a five-year moratorium was imposed on bottom dragging in the bay. The moratorium was prompted by the pending replacement of the Route 1 “Singing Bridge” with a higher structure that would allow a larger size class of commercial mussel draggers access to the bay.

Although scallops, urchins and mussels dragging existed in the bay before the moratorium, the vessels and gear that had access were relatively small in comparison with the more contemporary dragging fleet.
  
By 2000, the urchin and scallop fisheries were about depleted, with only mussels remaining in commercially viable quantities.

“With the potential for more and larger draggers entering the bay, questions were raised about the sustainability of the remaining mussel fishery and the potential effects of larger scale dragging on Taunton Bay’s habitats, water quality, wildlife and harvestable resources,” the report says.

In 2005, the DMR submitted a Taunton Bay assessment to the legislature, which recommended continuing the moratorium, with the possible exception of “intensely managed” dragging conducted in accordance with a comprehensive plan; establishing a stakeholder working group to develop “an area-focused, science-based comprehensive resource management plan;” and promoting efforts to characterize the short and long-term ecological consequences of dragging and other methods of harvesting that result in significant seabed disturbance.

The principle of stewardship is a theme that runs through both the Taunton Bay study and the broader bay management report.

Fyke nets set in shallow estuaries are used to catch elvers. These very young eels are sold to to Asian farms that grow them out. This “glass eel” fishery is relatively new to Maine with a short season and volatile prices. Department of Marine Resources photo

“Stewardship presumes that each individual user has a responsibility to manage the resource in a sustainable way,” the Taunton Bay study says. “By definition, a steward must actively participate in management. Roles for stewardship exist at every level, from individual, harvester, organization, through the various sectors of government.”

In the same vein, the bay management report eschews a one-size-fits-all approach. The report finds that coastal management could be improved through a regional approach that would respond to regional differences.

The problems with pursuing this approach are multifold, the report says. There is a major gap in data and information, and the data that does exist is difficult to locate. Seven state agencies, six federal agencies and coastal towns all have major roles in nearshore management, making it confusing to the public. Existing coastal programs are working with limited budgets.

In exploring solutions to these problems the report articulates a vision for the future, in which Maine’s coastal and marine resources are among the most healthy, productive and resilient natural systems in the world.

To realize this vision, the report determines that current management needs improvement in four core areas: 1) Move toward regional management of nearshore waters through partnerships between state agencies and existing regional service providers such as planning commissions, fisheries resource centers, and regional land trusts, with funding opportunities and formalized avenues for cooperative management; 2) Increase the amount and accessibility of data and information by creating a long-term coastal marine science plan that assesses research and monitoring needs, develops a use and resource atlas, establishes monitoring stations, compiles information, and enhances information exchange; 3) Improve the state’s management framework through collaboration, the development of issue-specific strategies, the coordination of agency outreach, and the development of Maine’s governance systems over time; and 4) Increase funding sources.

Collaboration beyond local boundaries is key, the report says. Although there are federal, state, and local processes for nearshore management, there is no recognized forum to advance comprehensive management efforts on a regional scale.

The concept, the report says, recognizes that the nature and types of concerns vary from place to place along the coast, making it incumbent on the state both to protect the public trust and encourage regions to act on their issues.

The objectives of the Taunton Bay plan would implement the larger Bay Study’s goals at a specific level.

Because funding for any new initiatives is limited, the Taunton Bay report says: “Nevertheless, forward progress can occur by integrating this plan with on going efforts of others (e.g. DMR’s water quality program for shellfish safety, university graduate theses, and competitive grants). Furthermore, with a well developed and widely supported management plan, the likelihood for support from competitive grants is significantly enhanced.”

The full reports can be found at www.maine.gov/dmr/baystudy.