Carl Safina worries that the federal fisheries will unwisely open groundfishing areas that have been wisely protected. Dragging damages the sea bottom environment where fish thrive. - GWC
By the early 1990’s, decades of heavy fishing had depleted several of New England’s important fish species, including cod, haddock, pollock and flounders (collectively referred to as ‘groundfish’). Fishermen had been catching fish faster than they could reproduce and had degraded fish habitats by dragging nets. To help rebuild New England’s fish populations, managers established several areas where fishing with any gears capable of catching groundfish species were prohibited. These areas were designed to protect both young, immature fish and large breeding adults. Later, in the early 2000’s, several areas both within and outside these closed fishing areas were designated as habitat closures, designed specifically to protect vulnerable habitats from all destructive bottom fishing gears.
Over the last 10-20 years, these protected areas have provided important safe havens for many species and have allowed previously degraded ocean habitats to recover. These protected areas have complex bottom structures and living communities that include kelp, mussel beds, sponges, and more. These areas often contain larger and older fish compared to fished areas. Since larger fish produce many times more eggs than small fish, these large fish are critical to helping populations rebuild1. Protected areas also help create a build-up of fish, which can swim into outside areas, and actually improve fishing there2.
These protected areas have provided many benefits to New England’s groundfish species, including Georges Bank haddock, Acadian redfish, pollock, and white hake–which have all recovered from previously depleted states. They have also benefited other species, like scallops–whose populations are thriving– and many marine mammals.
Unfortunately, despite these positives, New England fisheries remain in trouble. Some groundfish, like Atlantic cod and yellowtail flounder, remain deeply depleted. Recently, scientists estimated that Atlantic cod in the Gulf of Maine is at a mere 3 to 4% of a healthy abundance level. And the Atlantic cod population in Georges Bank is not fairing much better. Rising ocean temperatures are further threatening New England’s fish populations. Record high temperatures in New England have caused fish to retreat to cooler waters, and can affect fish growth, reproduction, and survival3. In recent years, the federal government has had to fork over millions of dollars to help struggling New England fishermen, who have not been able to catch enough fish to make a living.
New England fisheries are now at a critical juncture. There is considerable debate about how to fix New England’s fisheries—And specifically how to manage New England’s ocean habitats, as managers work on updating their habitat plan for the region.
The fishing industry has been pushing fishery managers to reduce the amount of protected areas [the protected areas that have benefited so many New England species and the fishermen too]. Why? Because they want to have more opportunities to catch fish, to reduce some of the economic burdens they face. They have also argued that many of these protected areas are no longer necessary because they were originally put in place to reduce fishing pressure on depleted species, and now fishing pressure is limited through species-specific catch limits.
New England fishery managers are apparently going along with this idea. Their proposed habitat plan that they released in October primarily includes options for reducing habitat protections4. In nearly all sub-regions, the options put forward are to keep the current protected areas as they are OR to replace them with smaller, patchier protected areas. The only sub-region where managers have proposed to add new protected areas is the eastern Gulf of Maine. Overall, New England could lose up to 70% of their protected areas.***
Our friend Kathryn Armstrong is going to be southwest bound - from St. Maarten to New Zealand. She'll be crew on Whizzbang - a boat she and her Dad Jeff have several times brought down to the Caribbean from Massachusetts with Capt. Peter DeWalt. A late January departure is planned.
Pilots 14
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On the San Pedro side of the ports of LA/LB stands this memorial by Jasper
D’Ambrosi. Add this to another tugster post about memorials. Warehouse No.
1 is...
Up, down, and around
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Wednesday – photo by Mitch Waxman Yup… that’s the shot I was hoping for
after walking down a thousand feet of steps. Norfolk Southern #1024. It’s
an EMD SD...
'Why Aren't You Writing?'
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(Neill Rea and Fern Sutherland in the New Zealand series, "The Brokenwood
Mysteries.") Lately, some friends have been asking what I'm doing.My
answer is, ...
Tips For A Reliable Cruising Boat
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*Article*Simple rules that make maintaining our boat less frustrating and
reduce the chances of a failure ruining our cruise.
Source
Mexican Mixiotes
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[image: A portion of mixiotes made with squirrel, bundle opened up.]
Mixiotes are Mexico's version of foods cooked in parchment. It's an
ancient, versatile...
#31 Volcán Tajumulco, Guatemala High Point
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At 13,845 feet tall, Tajumulco is not only the highest mountain in
Guatemala but also the highest in all of Central America. Because if its
remote locati...
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LOSS OF THE AMERICA’S CUP
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SEPTEMBER 26, 1983 AUSTRALIA II DEFEATED LIBERTY 4-3 IN A BEST OF 7 SERIES
TO WIN THE AMERICA’S CUP. THE RIGHT THING HAPPENED FOR ALL THE WRONG
REASONS. I...
INSTALLING THE 48 VOLT LITHIUM BATTERY
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One of the nice things about electric propulsion in a sailboat is the
ability to upgrade parts of it as new technology comes along. When I made
the conver...
The Van de Veldes: Greenwich, Art and the Sea
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My last art post was about the simply awful Hogarth exhibition at the Tate,
which was just terrible, having no interest in art or Hogarth or historical
...
Hitching a Ride
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At sea, sometimes birds find places to land on the boat and rest for a
while. Usually they land on the rail, which is easy to land on.
(Continued...)
Drilling Shaft Hole
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Hi Everybody. First post here. I’ve been slowly building a Monaco. At the
point where i need to drill the shaft hole through the hull. I’ve seen a
number...
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Nach langer Krankheit ist meine liebe Frau Martina sanft in meinen Armen
entschlafen. Mancher, der unseren Blog über die Jahre verfolgt hat, wird
vielleich...
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Looking for something a bit different? Check out our Facebook Page with a
great little video gearing up for our summer fun!
And we Have Pirate Pizza - a ...
On the Road Again
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We are off again..This time to warmer Climes in the Caribbean. We brought
our departure forward by 2 days as we had a good weather window. We left in
Qu...
Red Dot on the Ocean
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Matt’s life and voyage have been made into a feature-length documentary,
Red Dot on the Ocean. Learn how you can see it at RedDotontheOcean.com
Rumour has it…
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Rumour has it that I was sailing this yacht last month on the Baltic Sea
and that they have started to build a very similar version for a third
attempt at ...
The End
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After almost two months at sea and more than 5,000 miles, Issuma reached
Norfolk, Virginia. This was both my longest passage and my longest
singlehanded p...
Sea Chair – Art from A Plastic Ocean
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Have a look at this beautiful video that speaks to the fact that the ocean
is full of all the consumer plastics we use that just Won’t. Go. Away!
These cle...
NRDC Defends California's Ivory Law in Court
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Elly Pepper, Legislative Advocate, Washington, DC: Last year, California
became the third state in the country to pass legislation (Assembly Bill
96) restr...
DAY 71 | Making the call
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[image: DAY 71 | An unmatched trilogy of Antarctic achievements]
The post DAY 71 | Making the call appeared first on Shackleton Solo.
Italian Travels
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[image: Italian Travels]
A few photos of Barb, Bono, and Jim's adventures in Italy.
Date: Apr 2, 2015
Number of Photos in Album: 61
View Album
The Alexandra Shackleton on display at the ANMM
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The Alexandra Shackleton (our James Caird replica) is now on display at the
Australian National Maritime Museum, taking pride of place in the foyer as
part...
Enjoying the Snow
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A few weeks back I realized that we hadn't taken Fitz downhill skiing in
the backcountry at all. We've gone on tours in RMNP with Fitz in the
Chariot, but...
Star Island Shark Tournament Video
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Here's the film debut of the Small Fortune from last month's Star Island
Shark Tournament. No winning fish this year but we're crossing our fingers
for ...
Northwest Passage 2012 - ARCTIC DREAMS Video
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Looking back on 2012 hindsight is 20/20... ARCTIC DREAMS lead by Bob
Shepton aboard DODOS DELIGHT did an amazing 7,000 mile feat.... rather than
tell you ...
Design 90 - 76'-6" Shoal Draft Schooner
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Only two drawings were prepared for this preliminary design proposal; a
Lines Plan and a Sail & Deck Plan. I believe the Lines Plan that is shown
here i...
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Young Larry Blog - a continuation of Dermot's account of Young Larry's
transit of the Northwest Passage. We hope to up-date the blog at least once
a week....
Brooklyn Botanical Garden
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Took a look around on a cold (free) day. Yeah, it’s free admission on most
weekdays through the winter!
There is a lot going on with plants during the cold ...