Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 to Bring Comprehensive Management

by Mike Crowe

The Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 under consideration by the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) is expected to address long-awaited changes to the way fisheries habitat and the sustainability of the total marine resource are managed.

Final public comment on the Amendment will be taken by the NEFMC on January 8, 2015. A high volume of public comment and the Habitat Committee meetings to select preferred alternative will likely run through August of 2015. The earliest NEFMC is expected to vote on the amendment is summer or autumn of 2015, which would put implementation into 2016.

The amendment is a comprehensive approach to habitat management, as opposed to single-species management, said Michael Fogarty, senior scientist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass. Management measures could affect where and how fishermen will be able to fish, with certain areas closed to certain gear types. All areas and all gear types will not be affected all the time, said Fogarty.

The Habitat Amendment 2 does not involve the lobster fishery. The Amendment is about protecting habitat not groundfish. The current habitat closures have been in place for 20 years. "We, the state, the fishermen and the public, need to pay attention to see that the right bottom is protected at the right time", said Terry Stockwell of the Maine DMR and Chairman of the NEFMC.

An important resource that informs the development of Amendment 2 is the Swept Area Seabed Impact (SASI) model. This is a tool for analyzing the effects of fishing gear on essential fish habitat. According to Fogarty, different habitats can be affected differently and some seriously damaged by heavy fishing gear that is dragged or swept over the bottom. The structural complexity of habitat makes it a productive ecosystem for a diverse range of marine organisms, but that structural complexity can be subject to damage from some mobile gear types. The potential for habitat damage by gear is further complicated by natural forces such as tides and storms, Fogarty said.

Ecosystem management is also the top priority of the Northeast Regional Planning Body, as it develops a National Ocean Policy. NRPB’s ecosystem work is similar but unrelated to NEFMC’s work on Habitat Amendment 2.

Stockwell urged the public to read the Public Hearing Document Summary and be prepared to ask questions, be heard and recorded at the last two public meetings which will be held in Maine in January. Two proposals for the Gulf of Maine of importance are Eastern GOM Machais closure which is 2/3 in the grey zone and will only impact the U.S. Another a large area that runs from Vinakhaven to Mount Desert Rock could be closed to all gear that can catch groundfish.

The Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 – Public Hearing Document can be read at here. There is also a link to a means for submitting opinions to the Habitat Amendment 2 process here. Public hearings on the Amendment are on January 6th and 7th. The deadline for comment is Jan. 8, 2015.

Also: Webinar Monday, January 5, 2015; 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Register to participate: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/278328207 Call in info: Toll: +1 (646) 307-1706; Access Code: 911-628-108.

Public Hearing Brewer, ME: Tuesday, January 6, 2015; 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Jeff’s Catering and Event Center, 15 Littlefield Road, Brewer, ME 04412; Phone: (207) 989-1811.

Public Hearing Portland, ME: Wednesday, January 7, 2015; 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Holiday Inn by the Bay, 88 Spring Street, Portland, ME 04101; Phone: (207) 775-2311.