NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS NE 181
Characterization of the Fishing Practices
and Marine Benthic Ecosystems
of the Northeast U.S. Shelf,
and an Evaluation
of the Potential Effects
of Fishing
on Essential Fish Habitat
by by David Stevenson1, Louis Chiarella1,
Dianne Stephan1,
Robert Reid2,
Kurt Wilhelm1, John McCarthy2, and Michael Pentony1
1National Marine Fisheries Serv., 1 Blackburn Dr.,
Gloucester, MA 01930
2National Marine Fisheries Serv., 74 Magruder Rd., Highlands, NJ
07732
Print
publication date January 2004 ;
web version posted March 16, 2006
Citation: Stevenson D, Chiarella L, Stephan D, Reid R, Wilhelm K, McCarthy J, Pentony M. Characterization of the fishing practices and marine benthic ecosystems of the northeast US shelf, and an evaluation of the potential effects of fishing on essential habitat. NOAA Tech Memo NMFS NE 181; 179 p.
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Preface
This document was conceived in 2001 by the Northeast Region Essential
Fish Habitat Steering Committee. At that time, committee members were
Louis Chiarella and Dianne Stephan (NOAA Fisheries Service’s Northeast
Regional Office, Gloucester, MA), Tom Hoff (Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council, Dover, DE), Robert Reid (Northeast Fisheries Science Center
(NEFSC), Highlands, NJ), Michael Pentony (New England Fishery Management
Council, Newburyport, MA), and Carrie Selberg (Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission). An early draft that included habitat characterization
information, the spatial distribution of fishing activity by gear type,
and a summary of relevant gear-effects studies, was prepared to assist
a panel of academic and fishing industry experts that met in October
2001 to assess the habitat impacts of commercial fishing gear in the
region. Following the workshop, these chapters were revised and updated,
and new chapters describing fishing gear and practices and assessing
the vulnerability of habitats utilized by federally managed fish and
invertebrate species to fishing were added.
Seven
authors collaborated in the preparation of this document. Louis
Chiarella prepared the original gear descriptions, relying partially
on information compiled by Michael Pentony. Additional information was
later added to this section by David Stevenson. Dianne Stephan prepared
the habitat characterization chapter, in collaboration with Robert Reid
and David Stevenson. David Stevenson prepared the gear distribution maps
and summaries, using data provided by Kurt Wilhelm, and summarized the
relevant gear-effects literature. Korie Johnson (NOAA Fisheries
Service’s
Office of Habitat Conservation, Silver Spring, MD) assisted with
the literature review. Dianne Stephan, Louis Chiarella, Robert
Reid, and David Stevenson collaborated on the habitat vulnerability evaluations.
John McCarthy, a contractor at the Howard Laboratory (Highlands,
NJ), assisted with text formatting and the preparation of tables
and figures. Meredith Lock, also a contractor at the Howard Laboratory,
helped with literature review and document assembly. Vince Guida
(NEFSC, Highlands, NJ) provided some habitat characterization information.
Thomas Noji (NEFSC, Highlands, NJ), David Mountain (NEFSC, Woods
Hole, MA), and Peter Colosi (Northeast Regional Office, Gloucester,
MA) commented on an early draft. David Packer (NEFSC, Highlands,
NJ) and Jon Gibson (NEFSC, Woods Hole, MA) edited the document.
1. INTRODUCTION
This document was developed to provide assistance in meeting the Essential
Fish Habitat (EFH) mandates of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (MSA) for the NOAA Fisheries Service's Northeast Region
(hereafter just "Northeast Region" or "the region") which ranges from
Maine to North Carolina. The 1996 amendments to the MSA require that
federal fishery management plans (hereafter just "FMPs") minimize, to
the extent practicable, adverse effects on EFH caused by fishing [MSA
Section 303(a)(7)]. Pursuant to the EFH regulations [50 CFR 610.815(a)(2)],
FMPs must include an evaluation of the potential adverse effects of fishing
on EFH, including the effects of fishing activities regulated under other
federal FMPs. The evaluation should consider the effects of each fishing
activity on each type of habitat found within EFH, and provide conclusions
as to whether and how each fishing activity adversely affects EFH. FMPs
must describe each fishing activity, and must review and discuss all
available and relevant information such as information regarding the
intensity, extent, and frequency of any adverse effect on EFH, the type
of habitat within EFH that may be adversely affected, and the habitat
functions that may be disturbed. The evaluation should also consider
the cumulative effects of multiple fishing activities on EFH. Additionally,
FMPs must identify any fishing activities that are not managed under
the MSA that may adversely affect EFH. Such activities may include fishing
managed by state agencies or other authorities. However, regional fishery
management councils (hereafter just "councils") are not required to take
action to minimize adverse effects from non-MSA fishing activities. In
completing this evaluation, councils are expected to use the best scientific
information available, as well as other appropriate information sources.
This document emphasizes those fishing gears directly managed by the
New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) and Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council (MAFMC). Much of the information included in earlier
drafts of this document was incorporated into recent environmental impact
statements and amendments to NEFMC FMPs for Atlantic sea scallops, groundfish,
and monkfish (goosefish) (NEFMC 2003a,b, 2004), and into an environmental
impact statement that evaluated the effects of gears used in the Atlantic
herring fishery on EFH (NOAA/NMFS 2005). The information in this document
relates strictly to the direct physical and biological effects of fishing
on benthic habitat; it does not include resource population effects or
ecosystem-level effects that are caused by the removal of targeted species
or bycatch.
The information used in this document includes descriptions of benthic
habitats and species assemblages (fish and invertebrates) in four subregions
of the Northeast U.S. Shelf Ecosystem, descriptions of 37 gear types
used in state and federal waters in the region, and the extent and distribution
of fishing activity for the major commercial fishing gears used in the
region during 1995-2001. In addition, this document summarizes the results
of 73 scientific studies that form the basis for understanding the effects
of fishing on benthic marine habitats in the region, and evaluates the
vulnerability of benthic EFH to fishing for 47 species of federally managed
fish and invertebrate species in the region. Conclusions reached by a
panel of experts that met in October 2001 for the purpose of evaluating
habitat effects in the Northeast Region (NREFHSC 2002) were also incorporated.
A preliminary draft of this document was distributed to the workshop
panelists to assist them in conducting their evaluation.
to
Part 2. Habitat Characterization of the Northeast U.S. Shelf Ecosystem
Acronyms |
ASMFC |
= |
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission |
EEZ |
= |
exclusive economic zone |
EFH |
= |
essential fish habitat |
FMP |
= |
fishery management plan |
FVTR |
= |
fishing vessel trip report |
GIS |
= |
geographical information system |
GOM |
= |
Gulf of Maine |
HF |
= |
heavily fished |
LF |
= |
lightly fished |
MAB |
= |
Mid-Atlantic Bight |
MAFMC |
= |
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council |
MBW |
= |
Maine Bottom Water |
MIW |
= |
Maine Intermediate Water |
MSA |
= |
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act |
MSW |
= |
Maine Surface Water |
NEFMC |
= |
New England Fishery Management Council |
NMFS |
= |
(NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service |
NOAA |
= |
(U.S. Department of Commerce) National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration |
PSI |
= |
pounds per square inch (lb/in2) |
TMS |
= |
10-minute square (of latitude or longitude) (10N square) |
UF |
= |
unfished |
