May 2013 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 11. MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS Harbor Deepening Report


Arlington, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announces the avail- ability of the latest installment of its Habitat Management Series, Harbor Deepening: Potential Habitat and Natural Resource Issues. The document was developed by the Commission’s Habitat Committee in response to the growing number of Atlantic ports involved in or considering a harbor deepening project to accommodate deep draft vessels such as the Post-Panamax class vessels.


In 2014, an upgrade of the locks in the Panama Canal will be completed, allowing for passage of “Post-Panamax” class vessels with maximum dimensions of 1,200 feet long, 160 feet wide, and a draft of 49.9 feet. The present expansion of the locks as well as future expansion, which ultimately will service ships with a draft approaching 60 feet, have major implications for economic drivers affecting ports and harbors. Not sur- prisingly, multiple ports along the Atlantic coast (e.g. Norfolk, Baltimore, and New York/New Jersey) have initiated navigation infrastructure improvements to accommo- date the larger, deeper draft vessels. Other ports, such as Philadelphia and Miami, are entering construction phases, while others, including Fort Lauderdale, Savannah and Charleston, are aggressively pursuing deep- ening projects. Clearly these projects can have tremendous economic consequences for local, regional, and national economies. Likewise, however, they also represent large-scale modifi cations of existing and historical fi sh habitat. In most cases, they also represent a progression in a series of incremental improvements to navigation infrastructure that has occurred in tandem with other alterations to coastal, estuarine,


and tidal riverine bathymetric features. While the issues associated with harbor deepening projects can be geographically specifi c, the Harbor Deepening Report de- scribes a number of alterations associated with these projects that should be considered when evaluating the potential effects on habitats and associated biological resourc- es. These can include changes in the water quality and physical characteristics of the harbor and associated drainage systems, as well as both direct and indirect effects on critical biological resources. Mitigation measures for these projects will vary greatly with the geography of the port and maybe triggered by adaptive management mea- sures. The report provides sources of infor- mation and documents related to ongoing or planned deepening projects. The report, now available on the Commission’s website at http://www.asmfc.org/publications/habitat/ hms12HarborDeepening_Winter2013.pdf, will continue to be updated as new sources of information become available. For more in- formation, please contact Megan Caldwell, Habitat Coordinator, at megfi shconsult@ gmail.com.


ASMFC Begins Preparations for Atlantic Sturgeon Benchmark Stock Assessment


Arlington, VA – This spring, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will begin work on the 2014 benchmark stock assessment for Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus). The assessment will be used to evaluate the health of the stock and in- form the management of this species. The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confi dential data, when the public will be asked to leave


the room.


The Commission welcomes the sub- mission of data sources that will improve the accuracy of the assessment. This includes, but is not limited to, data on catch per unit effort, bycatch interactions, biological sam- ples (length, age, frequency), life history information (growth, maturity, fecundity, spawning stock biomass weights, natural mortality), and tagging data. For data sets to be considered, the data must be sent in the required format, with accompanying description of methods, to the Commission by July 1, 2013. The Data Workshop date and location have yet to be determined, but it is anticipat- ed it will take place during the late summer. This workshop will review all available data sources for Atlantic sturgeon and identify data sets that will be incorporated in the stock assessment. For those interested in submitting data and/or attending the Atlantic Sturgeon Data Workshop (space is limited), please contact Dr. Katie Drew, ASMFC Stock Assessment Scientist, at 703.842.0740.


Research Enables Fishermen to Harvest Lucrative Shellfi sh on Georges Bank Combined research efforts by scientists involved in the Gulf of Maine Toxicity (GOMTOX) project, funded by NOAA’s Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) program, and administered by the National Centers for


Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), have led to enhanced understanding of toxic algal blooms on Georges Bank. This new infor- mation, coupled with an at-sea and dockside testing protocol developed through collab- oration between GOMTOX and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investiga- tors, has allowed fi shermen to harvest ocean quahogs and surf clams in these offshore waters for the fi rst time in more than two decades. The shellfi sh industry estimates the


Georges Bank fi shery can produce up to 1 million bushels of surf clams and ocean quahogs a year, valued $10 – 15 million annually. “There is a billion dollars’ worth of shellfi sh product on Georges Bank that is property of the United States but that can’t be harvested because of the threat of toxicity, and 99.9% of the time, it is good wholesome product,” says Dave Wallace of North Atlantic Clam Association and a GOMTOX participant. “In an unusual and unique partnership, we worked with GOM- TOX scientists, the FDA, and the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Delaware and now that huge resource can go into commerce, which helps the entire country.” “We are extremely pleased that research funded by NOAA can provide such an eco- nomic boost to New England shellfi sheries,” says Robert Magnien, Director of NCCOS’


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