October 19, 2004
Commercial and Recreational Fishermen Unite on the Future Management of
Stellwagen Bank
Commercial and recreational fishing representatives will be attending this
week’s Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) meeting of the Stellwagen Bank
National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) with a shared goal to ensure that the
five-year SBNMS management plan is proactive in collaborative research to
inform future decision-making but refrains from rash moves to alter the SBNMS’
current fishing-friendly designation.
During the past year and a half, members of several commercial and
recreational fishing industry organizations have participated cooperatively
in eleven of twelve working groups convened by the Stellwagen Bank National
Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) to develop a five year management plan for this
marine area. In addition to fishing industry participants, working group
members included government agencies, environmental organizations, shipping
interests and whale watching companies. Representing all gear types and many
of the New England ports, commercial and recreational fishermen have come
together in an unprecedented demonstration of concern and commitment to
contribute to this process that will determine the future management of the
Sanctuary. It is their aim to ensure that the access to and the use and
conservation of the myriad natural resources within the Sanctuary remain fair
and equitable among its various stakeholders.
These commercial and recreational fishermen agree that:
- The current designation charge that allows fishing in the SBNMS should
be retained without amendment;
- The National Marine Fisheries Service and the New England Fishery
Management Council should retain exclusive authority to manage fisheries
regulation within Sanctuary boundaries;
- The current boundaries of the SBNMS should be maintained without
modification;
- The 400 year history of fishing on Stellwagen Bank should be
prominently included as part of SBNMS’s public outreach message;
- The Ecosystem Based Management Work Group’s Action Plan should serve as
the basis for the development of the SBNMS five-year management plan. This
plan strives to create a foundation upon which ecosystem-based management
can be developed and implemented in the future.
- Fishing industry members and organizations desire to be and should be
active participants in all stages of recommended research projects and
initiatives;
- The SBNMS should be considered as a subset of the larger Gulf of Maine
ecosystem when being assessed from scientific and regulatory perspectives;
- Research should necessarily precede policy-making and scientifically
defensible findings should be the foundation upon which these decisions are
made;
- Research and use data should be maintained centrally and should be
easily accessible and comprehensible by the public;
- and Quality partnerships and stewardship are essential to maintain the
ecological health of SBNMS.
Participating fishing industry members strongly support this consensus
position and keenly hope that its unified voice will be heard at all levels
of government and in all stakeholder arenas. Massachusetts Fishermen’s
Partnership (MFP) president and SAC member, Capt. Ed Barrett, said, “We hope
that the SAC will support progress and use the opportunity to address issues
through the consensus action plan emerging from the SBNMS’ Ecosystem Based
Management Work Group.” MFP executive director, David Bergeron, said, “We are
encouraged by the significant progress that has been achieved with the
carefully crafted compromise coming out of the Ecosystem Based Management
Work Group, but there are issues coming from other groups that need to be
worked out.” For instance, proposals from several work groups, particularly
that of the Marine Mammal Entanglement Work Group, are duplicative of
management functions that are already provided by other enforcement agencies.
Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association executive director and SAC member,
Bill Adler, said, “We should be focusing our requests for resources where
they will add the greatest value. The public may ask why we are proposing a
different set of SBNMS marine mammal rules when NOAA Fisheries already
enforces the Marine Mammal Protection Act throughout the entire Gulf of Maine
and not just inside the small area of the SBNMS. It would be a waste of
public funds to replicate what is already in place and functioning well.”
SAC member representing recreational fishermen, Barry Gibson, added, “We
do not believe that closing recreational fishing makes any sense, but we
strongly support collaborative research that will build a better
understanding of the ecosystem in the future.”
By joining forces, the commercial and recreational fishing industries have
become an influential sector that is being recognized in this process. Not
only have they already had a significant impact on how SBNMS will be managed
during the next five years, but they have also expressed a desire to
participate in ensuing research and management processes, thereby helping to
safeguard their fishing way of life.
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