Monhegan Island, Maine. The first recorded European explorers arrived in 1603. A British fishing station was established here before the settlement of the Plymouth Colony. Abenaki sagamore Samoset learned English from British fishermen who dried cod on the island before shipping it to Europe. Fishing remains the year-round occupation. Peter Ralston photo www.ralstongallery.com
Coral Protection Zones to Ban Fishing Gear
by Laurie Schreiber
PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—At its Jan. 30 meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) took final action on its Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment and sent it for review and approval by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
In its final decision, NEFMC selected an option that encompasses 25,153 square miles in a so-called 600-meter minimum depth “broad zone” for the continental slope and canyons south of Georges Bank. The option covers 75 percent of the known coral in the zone, 75 percent of the areas considered highly or very highly suitable as habitat for soft corals, and 85 percent of the areas with slopes greater than 30 degrees. Once the amendment is implemented, the zone – with one exception – will be closed to bottom-tending gear, meaning both mobile gear such as trawls and dredges and fixed gear such as traps and gillnets. NEFMC approved an exemption for the Atlantic deep-sea red crab pot fishery.
But two zones designated in the Gulf of Maine will continue to allow lobster traps:
• Outer Schoodic Ridge and Mount Desert Rock, where mobile bottom-tending gear will be prohibited but other types of fishing gear, including lobster traps, will be allowed.
• The establishment of a dedicated habitat research area in Jordan Basin, encompassing roughly 40 square miles. The designation is meant to focus attention on coral habitats at the site, with the potential for research on corals and fishing gear impacts. No fishing restrictions were imposed.
