Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS November 2009
Commercial Fishing News
MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS
Interim Report Released by Interagency dards of education, and harness their ability occur within their waters. be available at the Magnolia Wetland Resto-
Ocean Policy Task Force to encourage others to care about whales and Some of the highlights of the program’s ration in Huntington Beach, CA, and a third
The Interagency Ocean Policy Task practice responsible viewing themselves. first report: Warming of coastal and shelf will go live at the Great Lakes’ Dunes Creek
Force has released its Interim Report for a 30- To become a Whale SENSE participant, waters has led to northward shifts in distribu- Restoration in Hammond, IN.
day public review and comment period. The company vessel operators and the natural- tion of some fish species and changes to a NOAA and Partners Complete Restora-
report provides proposals for a comprehen- ists who narrate tours, are required to attend warmer-water fish community. The commu- tion Project in Hempstead Harbor
sive approach to uphold our stewardship annual training on safe operations and whale nity structure of zooplankton, a major food NOAA and its partners recently cel-
responsibilities for the oceans. Specifically, ecology. Through these workshops, compa- source for whales and many other marine ebrated the successful completion of a multi-
the Interim Report proposes a new national nies learn more about passenger education, species including fish, has changed, due in year project to compensate the public for
policy, recognizing that America’s steward- whale watching guidelines and regulations, part to climate and physical processes acting hazardous waste released into Hempstead
ship of the oceans, coasts, and the Great and good marine stewardship practices. over the North Atlantic Basin, indicating the Harbor, NY. The project restored salt marsh
Lakes is intrinsically linked to environmental Once a participant company has completed importance of winds and atmospheric circu- and coastal shoreline, and created important
sustainability, human health and well-being, the program, it is granted full use of the Whale lation patterns to the function and structure habitats for spawning, nursing and foraging
national prosperity, adaptation to climate SENSE logo and becomes listed on the Whale of this ecosystem. fish and other wildlife. The Applied Environ-
and other environmental change, social jus- SENSE website. Species-selective harvesting patterns mental Services property, designated as a
tice, foreign policy, and national and home- Massachusetts-based Hyannis Whale have also contributed to shifts in the compo- Superfund site in 1986, was used as a petro-
land security. It proposes modifications to Watcher Cruises, Dolphin Fleet, and Massa- sition of the ecosystem, which is now domi- leum and hazardous waste storage area from
the existing governance structure, including chusetts Bay Lines, are among the first com- nated by small pelagic fishes such as herring the 1930s to the 1970s. Improper handling and
renewed and sustained high-level engage- panies to participate in Whale SENSE. and mackerel, shellfish species, and elasmo- storage of these hazardous substances led to
ment through an interagency National Ocean “We believe it is the responsibility of the branchs (skates and small sharks) of rela- the contamination of groundwater, surface
Council. The report also prioritizes nine cat- whale watching industry to set higher stan- tively low economic value. water, soils, sediments, and air.
egories for action, including ecosystem- dards for safe navigation around the whales, The trajectory of regional human popu- Restoration took place across the harbor
based management, regional ecosystem pro- as well as educating the public in their under- lation size suggests that human-induced in Bar Beach Lagoon. NOAA partnered with
tection and restoration, and strengthened standing of the marine life and how humans pressure on the ecosystem will continue to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New York
and integrated observing systems. affect these habitats,” said Steve Milliken, increase. State agencies, and the Town of North
The Task Force is now focusing its ef- owner of the Dolphin Fleet. “We think it is The Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf is Hempstead on activities that included the
forts on developing a recommended frame- important to do more than simply watch classified as experiencing ecosystem over- removal of invasive plant species and 3,000
work for effective coastal and marine spatial whales. We have to protect them, too.” fishing, although marked improvement has cubic yards of soil and solid waste debris.
planning. In addition, the Task Force will hold Human Impacts and Environmental occurred in the condition of a number of Each of the excavated areas was backfilled
at least four more regional public meetings in Factors Are Changing the Northwest harvested species. Exploitation rates, or the with clean soils provided by the Town of
the following cities: Providence; Cleveland; Atlantic Ecosystem rate at which fish are removed from the ocean, North Hempstead. Volunteers helped plant
New Orleans; and Honolulu. Public meetings Fish in U.S. waters from Cape Hatteras to have been significantly reduced in many fish more than 8,000 native marsh wetland plants
have already taken place in Anchorage and the Canadian border have moved away from stocks during the last decade, indicating that and coastal grasses, shrubs and trees. This
San Francisco. Public comments may be sub- their traditional, long-time habitats over the management measures put in place to reduce project was the first in the nation to be funded
mitted online through October 17, 2009. past four decades because of fundamental overfishing are beginning to show divi- by a Superfund natural resource damage
NOAA, Partners Launch Effort for Tour changes in the regional ecosystem, accord- dends. settlement that included money for perfor-
Operators to Protect Whales ing to a new report by NOAA researchers. Fogarty says sustained long-term moni- mance monitoring. Efforts have succeeded in
NOAA has joined with private industry The 2009 Ecosystem Status Report also toring by many agencies and institutions in establishing a diverse population of salt
and conservation groups to launch Whale points out the need to manage the waters off the Northeast region has enabled scientists marsh and coastal plant and animal species,
SENSE, a new voluntary program that en- the northeastern coast of the United States as and others to trace changes in the ecosystem. including marsh vegetation, invertebrates,
courages whale-watch tour operators from a whole rather than as a series of separate and “In the future, we need to continue to fish and birds.
Maine to Virginia to practice responsible unrelated components. monitor the oceanographic, ecological, and New Research Aims to Unravel How
viewing. The program will also recognize Known as the Northeast U.S. Continen- human indicators analyzed in this report to Nutrients Drive Toxic ‘Brown Tides’ on
businesses that discourage the harassment tal Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NES detect any additional changes in the system. the East Coast
of whales in the wild and promote good LME), the ecosystem spans approximately These indicators also provide important in- NOAA has awarded Massachusetts-
stewardship. 100,000 square miles and supports some of puts to models that can be used to help guide based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu-
The program was developed by the highest revenue-generating fisheries in management decisions and to forecast future tion $120,000 as part of an anticipated three-
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries the nation. During the past 40 years, the changes.” year, nearly $500,000 project, to determine
Service’s northeast region and Stellwagen ecosystem has experienced extensive fishing NOAA Clarifies Fishing Permit Condi- how nitrogen and phosphorus promote
Bank National Marine Sanctuary in partner- by domestic and foreign fleets, changes in tions for Grant Recipients brown tides on the East Coast. Funds were
ship with the Whale and Dolphin Conserva- ocean water temperatures due to climate NOAA Fisheries Service is proposing awarded through the interagency Ecology
tion Society, and several New England com- change, and pressures from increasing hu- specific terms and conditions for Federal and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms
mercial whale watching companies. man populations along the coast. fishing vessel permits obtained through the (ECOHAB) program.
The United States has the largest whale Michael Fogarty, who heads the Eco- purchase of fishing vessels using Federal The project will focus on brown tides, a
watching industry in the world and whale system Assessment Program at the North- grant awards. The terms and conditions type of algae along the East Coast that causes
watch vessels often play important roles in east Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) of would authorize the Northeast Regional tremendous damage to coastal habitats and
reporting and standing by injured, sick, en- NOAA’s Fisheries Service in Woods Hole, Administrator of NOAA Fisheries Service to scallop and hard clam fisheries from Rhode
tangled or ship struck animals until help ar- Mass., says his team’s report highlights the suspend, cancel, fail to renew, modify, or Island to Virginia. Researchers plan to use
rives. All whales are protected under federal need to understand natural and human-re- otherwise rescind any Federal fishing vessel genome technology to examine how these
laws, including the Marine Mammal Protec- lated changes in this region and to develop permit if the terms and conditions of any nutrient pollutants may cause a brown tide
tion Act, that safeguard them from being effective management and mitigation strate- Federal grant award used to obtain that per- event and influence its duration.
injured, killed, or harassed and having their gies. mit are violated by the grant recipient. For “In the late 1980s, brown tide caused the
important natural behaviors interrupted. “There are many pressures on the eco- example, through an approach called “permit collapse of the multi-million dollar scallop
“Tour companies in the Whale SENSE system including fishing, pollution, habitat banking,” an organization may seek a suite of industry on eastern Long Island and mass
program that prioritize education and respon- loss from coastal development, and impacts permits in a particular fishery with the option die-offs of seagrass in its bays,” said Chris-
sible whale watching could be very attractive on marine life from shipping and other uses of to lease out the fishing rights associated with topher Gobler, Ph.D, a brown tide expert from
to potential customers who spend quite a lot the ocean,” Fogarty said. “In addition, those permits. The proposed action is de- the State University of New York at Stony
to view these animals in their natural changing climate conditions are warming signed to allow NOAA to maintain oversight Brook who is involved in the project.
habitat,”said Allison Rosner, a biologist with ocean waters, changing ocean chemistry and of grant-supported arrangements such as “Blooms have continued since then with
NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Service Office of circulation patterns, and altering atmo- permit banking programs. damage extending to New York’s largest fish-
Protected Resources and NOAA program spheric systems. These changes have, in Comments on this proposed rule may be ery which harvests the northern quahog, or
coordinator for Whale SENSE. turn, been linked to changes in the distribu- submitted at www.regulations.gov until 5pm hard clam. Unfortunately, these blooms were
According to a recent report from the tion and abundance of fish species in the on November 2, 2009. so damaging, the fisheries and resources
International Fund for Animal Welfare, the region and their major sources of food.” Live “Dam Cam” Shows the Recovery Act have never recovered.”
whale watching industry contributed nearly The report is the first in a planned series at Work on the Winnicut River Brown tides are unusual since they grow
$1 billion to the nation’s economy in 2008. of ecosystem status reports by Fogarty and Major construction has begun to re- when a certain type of inorganic nitrogen is
“Whale watching in this region is an his colleagues in the NEFSC’s Ecosystem move the Winnicut Dam in Greenland, NH, in low supply. As such, it is suspected that an
important part of the local economy,” said Assessment Program to document changes one of 50 high priority, high quality coastal excess of other nutrient types, mainly organic
Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist for in the NES LME, one of 64 regions in the restoration projects chosen by NOAA for phosphorus and nitrogen, in aquatic ecosys-
the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Soci- world’s ocean designated as a large marine funding through the American Recovery and tems contributes to the development of
ety. “It must be done responsibly to keep ecosystem. LMEs are large coastal ocean Reinvestment Act of 2009. The public is in- brown tides. Determining which nutrient
from accidentally injuring or harassing the waters adjacent to continents and character- vited to view live images of this removal conditions trigger these blooms will help
animals while they engage in vital behaviors ized by distinct bathymetry, hydrology, pro- throughout the next several months as the predict and prevent brown tides. Knowing
like nursing, feeding, or resting.” ductivity and inter-related marine popula- river begins to heal. This live camera is the the genome sequence of the brown tide or-
Program coordinators say Whale tions. LMEs produce 80 percent of the first of three that NOAA has placed at coastal ganism also allows researchers to observe
SENSE will recognize companies with good world’s annual fishery yields, and most of the restoration Recovery Act locations through-
Continued on Page 11.
stewardship practices, promote high stan- impacts of human activities in the ocean out the United States. A second camera will
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