Onshore
06-04-2008, 09:45 AM
There have been recent dire warnings that the Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary is going to be closed to all types of fishing immenently.
I've just completed my first reading of the entire Draft Management Plan for the sanctuary which was just recently released.
Nowhere within the plan have I found any call for restriction of either commercial of recreational fishing activities. Yes, there are specifically noted threats to the environmental quality of the sanctuary and the multiple species it was created to proect. No, I can find no suggested specific current action to curtail any activities.
I am sure that some environmental NGOs will and/or have called for action to curtail activity within the sanctuary - that is not unexpected. Those NGOs do not control the sanctuary and any plan to restrict current activity will be subject to prolonged public scrutiny, hearings, etc.
Stellwagen is of primary importance to our valuable commercial and recreational fisheries as well as the tourist related activities such as whale-watching on the bank.
I think we have to accept a couple premises regarding the sanctuary.
1. It is there now
2. Some heretofore allowed activities have caused damage to the bank's
environment and to some of the many and varied species it supports
3. Some change is inevitable - but not immenent
4. No changes will take place without long and protracted debate in the press
and at public hearings, etc.
You can read the entire draft management plan at: http://stellwagen.noaa.gov/management/mpr/draftplan.html
If anyone knows of immediate plans to restrict activity within Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary, called for by any government agency involved with its' management; then by all means let us know at once by posting that threat here.
I've just completed my first reading of the entire Draft Management Plan for the sanctuary which was just recently released.
Nowhere within the plan have I found any call for restriction of either commercial of recreational fishing activities. Yes, there are specifically noted threats to the environmental quality of the sanctuary and the multiple species it was created to proect. No, I can find no suggested specific current action to curtail any activities.
I am sure that some environmental NGOs will and/or have called for action to curtail activity within the sanctuary - that is not unexpected. Those NGOs do not control the sanctuary and any plan to restrict current activity will be subject to prolonged public scrutiny, hearings, etc.
Stellwagen is of primary importance to our valuable commercial and recreational fisheries as well as the tourist related activities such as whale-watching on the bank.
I think we have to accept a couple premises regarding the sanctuary.
1. It is there now
2. Some heretofore allowed activities have caused damage to the bank's
environment and to some of the many and varied species it supports
3. Some change is inevitable - but not immenent
4. No changes will take place without long and protracted debate in the press
and at public hearings, etc.
You can read the entire draft management plan at: http://stellwagen.noaa.gov/management/mpr/draftplan.html
If anyone knows of immediate plans to restrict activity within Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary, called for by any government agency involved with its' management; then by all means let us know at once by posting that threat here.