Penobscot Bay Watch

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the availability of better information about the actual distribution and spatial extent of seagrasses and hard bottom habitats.

Inshore Gulf of Maine Activities
This proposed HAPC would be located entirely within the waters of the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The only jurisdiction the Council has over activities occurring in this proposed HAPC is for the fishing activities of federal permit holders who also fish in near- shore state waters. Most activities that would occur within the proposed HAPC fall under the management jurisdiction of state agencies.

There are a range of alternatives the Council could consider to minimize the potential adverse impacts of fishing gear and practices within the proposed HAPC. One option would be to impose no additional restrictions on the fishing activities of federal permit holders within this area. At the other end of the range of options, the Council could consider restricting all fishing activity by federal permit holders within this proposed HAPC. The Council could also consider restricting only such fishing activities of federal permit holders that employ bottom-tending mobile fishing gear.

To have a meaningful effect on the activities that may adversely impact the proposed HAPC, it may be necessary for state fishery agencies to restrict the use of certain fishing gears and practices. The Council can make specific recommendations to state fishery agencies and encourage them to protect EFH and HAPCs. Many seemingly benign activities -- ranging from hand raking of bay scallops, which are almost always found in eelgrass beds, to subtidal aquaculture operations -- may require more scrutiny than they have been given to date and the Council could recommend that state fishery agencies consider these activities in light of the importance of this habitat.

Although depths < 9 m are rarely fished with large bottom-tending mobile fishing gear, small boat commercial fishermen use dredges to fish for sea scallops and sea urchins. Such gear might be more properly restricted to -waters deeper than 9 meters. When nearshore fisheries commenced for these species, they were reported to be initially undertaken by SCUBA divers but now dredging is the most popular method. Hand gathering may be a more appropriate method for harvesting relatively sessile resources in sensitive shallow habitats. The Council could recommend that state fishery agencies consider options to close this shallow coastal zone to some or all bottom-tending mobile fishing gear.

Other traditional fisheries undertaken close to the littoral zone, such as dragging for blue mussels (Mytilus edulus), raking Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), or hand digging quahogs (Mercenaria mercenaria) may not be a problem based on the substratum occupied. It is possible that these types of activities may be benign to critical habitat for age-0 cod. The Council could consider recommending that state fishery agencies review the potential impacts of these types of activities and, if necessary, consider options to minimize their impacts on the proposal HAPC. Even if no specific measures are proposed, the HAPC designation would create a higher level of review for non-fishing related activities during the NMFS EFH consultation process.

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