Gerry E' Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

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Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine
Sanctuary

• Ecosystem-Based Management Action Plan

Rory Higgins
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Stellwagen Bank NMS

• Est. November 1992
• Part of Gulf of Maine ecosystem
• 638 square nautical miles, or 842 square miles
• Includes Stellwagen Bank, Tillies Bank and
  southern portions of Jeffreys Ledge
• 65-600 ft. deep

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Why is it so important?

• Productive fishing ground for centuries
• Cod, haddock, flounder, bluefin tuna, sharks,
  herring

• Ranked top-ten whale-watching destination
• - Million visitors annually
• - 17 marine mammal species

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Motivating Issues

• Shipping lane
• Discharges dumping
• Fiber optic cable
• Fishing industry (440 vessels all gear)
• Abundance of recreational users

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Goals

• Consider ecological processes both inside and
  outside sanctuary.
• Recognize the importance of species and habitat
  diversity.
• Accommodate human uses and associated benefits
  within the context of conservation requirements.
• Establish Ecosystem Based Management

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Strategy 1 Establish a Research Steering
Committee

• Develop a research and monitoring plan
• determine biological reference points
• Define ecological integrity

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Strategy 2 Establish a collaborative research
consortium

• Informal composition of academic, government,
  fishermen and private interest groups
• Further the knowledge of the sanctuary system
• Identify the high priority issues
• Biannual symposium, website, mailing lists

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Strategy 3 Establish an information management
program

• Design and implement a system to integrate,
  process, synthesize and analyze scientific data
• Facilitate science-based management
• Public access

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Strategy 4 Understand ecosystem structure and
function

• Measure biodiversity
• effectiveness of management
• Analyze indicator species
• Quantify nutrient loadings
• Determine dispersal rate model trajectories of
  larvae

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Strategy 4 Understand ecosystem structure and
function

• Real-time oceanographic and meteorological data
• Map the benthic habitats
• Evaluate fish movement rates
• tagging
• Effects of natural disturbances
• Storm and tidal events, etc.

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Strategy 4 Understand ecosystem structure and
function

• Biological and physical monitoring programs
• changes, zone effectiveness
• Human use monitoring program
• Understand
• usage in and adjacent to SBNMS
• socioeconomic impacts of regulations
• spatial/temporal distribution of usage

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Strategy 4 Understand ecosystem structure and
function

• Establish ecological research programs
• Develop a dynamic ecosystem model
• Establish an integrated monitoring system
• Real-time data at multiple depths
• Surface buoys, seafloor sensors

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Strategy 5 Protect Ecological Integrity

• Evaluate and modify zoning schemes
• Assess minimize bycatch and discard
• Protect forage species (herring, squid, mackerel,
  sand eels)
• Ban exploitation of sand eels

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Strategy 6 Evaluate the need and feasibility for
modifying the sanctuary boundary

• Jeffreys Ledge extension?
• Ecology and socioeconomics of Jeffreys Ledge
• Ecological relationship between Jeffreys Ledge
  and SBNMS

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Status

• Nov. 2001-Jan. 2002Issue Identification
• Winter 2003Issue Prioritization
• Spring 2003Working Group Structure and Formation
• Summer/Fall 2003 Work Plan Development
• Winter-Summer 2004Action Plan Development
• Fall 2004 SAC Action Plan Review and
  Recommendations
• Winter-Summer 2005Draft Management Plan
  Preparation
• Summer 2005 Draft Management Plan Published for
  Public Comment
• Summer/Fall 2006Final Management Plan Preparation

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Stakeholder Involvement

• Steering committee, Research Consortium, Research
  Programs, public access to data
• SBNMS staff, NEFMC, NOAA NEFSC, academia, fishing
  industry, conservation organizations, public,
  USCG, MFP, FISHER

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Policies

• National Marine Sanctuaries Act
• Authority to conserve and manage marine areas
  and activities affecting them.
• Maintain the natural biological communities.
• Protect, and where appropriate, restore and
  enhance natural habitats, populations and
  ecological processes.
• Create models of, and incentives for, ways to
  conserve and manage these areas

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Ecological Values

• Comprehensive ecosystem protection
• Ecological processes in and out of sanctuary
  boundaries
• Importance of species and habitat diversity
• Recognize uncertainty, manage adaptively
• Achieve environmental sustainability

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Socioeconomic Values

• Accommodate human uses and associated benefits
• Public accessibility
• Reduce habitat impacts by users
• Public access to data
• Human use monitoring program
• Determine impacts of regulations

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Monitoring

• Adaptive management, develop models
• Biological and Physical monitoring programs
• Understand changes in the natural systems
• Determine effectiveness of any zones
• Human use monitoring program
• Vessel monitoring devices, refined vessel trip
  reports, call in system

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Why it will be effective?

• Stakeholder involvement
• Adaptive management
• Accepting uncertainty
• Comprehensive monitoring programs
• Human uses ecological integrity

Questions?