Final Action Michelle Bachman, NEFMC Staff, Habitat PDT Chair - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Final Action Michelle Bachman, NEFMC Staff, Habitat PDT Chair NEFMC Meeting June 16-18, 2015

Purpose: Take final action on Omnibus EFH Amendment 2  Select final alternatives for:  Georges Bank habitat – note that the Committee updated their recommendation on June 1  Gulf of Maine spawning and Georges Bank spawning  Other sections of the document were approved in April  Submit the action to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval Materials: DEIS – Georges Bank sections of Volume 3 1. Habitat Committee summary (June 1) 2. Memo from Exec. Director on Ctte. pref. alternative (June 10) 3. Correspondence 4. 2

Alternative 9 – Scallop access approved for in future? analysis in April Measures same as Overlaps groundfish existing CAII SAP Area groundfish area Mobile bottom- tending gear closures June 1, 2015 Georges Bank Analysis 3

4

Combines elements of 7 and 9; recommended on June 1 7

Measures for Alt 9 mortality closure Gears allowed Gears excluded   Pot gear for lobsters or hagfish Non-pot fixed gears, including  Pelagic longline gear or pelagic demersal longlines and gillnets  hook-and-line gear, or harpoon Hook and line gear for gear groundfish   Pelagic midwater trawl gear, Hydraulic clam dredges  with bycatch limits Groundfish trawls east of 67°  Tuna purse seine gear outside 20’ W (outside of SAP)  of the portion of CA II known Scallop dredges fishing on a day as the Habitat Area of at sea Particular Concern  Groundfish trawls west of 67° 20’ W (in E. U.S./CAN SAP)  Scallop dredges fishing as part of an access fishery? June 1, 2015 8

Measures for Committee Alternative Reduced Impact Habitat Mgmt. Area* Gears allowed Gears excluded   Fixed gears including traps, longlines, Hydraulic clam gillnets (perhaps different restrictions dredges  were intended east vs. west of 67° 20’?) Groundfish trawls east  Pelagic longline gear, pelagic hook-and- of 67° 20’ W  line, harpoons Scallop dredges fishing  Recreational gears on a day at sea  Mid-water trawls  Purse seines  Scallop dredges fishing as part of an access fishery  Groundfish trawls west of 67° 20’ W (in E. U.S./CAN SAP) *as interpreted by staff June 1, 2015 9

Georges Bank/Great South Channel region Hatched and crosshatched areas currently closed to MBTG – 8,780 km 2 GB region within US EEZ – 50,273 km 2 Mortality and habitat closures combined – 18,102 km 2 10

Comparison of area sizes Alternative 1 Alternative Alternative Alternative Committee 7 8 9 Alternative Total Area = 3,162 km 2 Total Area = Total Area = Total Area = Total area = 1,303 km 2 4,788 km 2 1,949 km 2 habitat closures 2,075 • CAIN EFH 1,937 km 2 • EFH South, • N. Georges, • Western, • GS2, 1,025 • CAIS EFH 584 km 2 278 km 2 4,788 km 2 900 km 2 km 2 • CAII EFH 641 km 2 • Georges • Eastern, • Eastern, 607 km 2 Shoal 2, Total area = 10,801 km 2 700 km 2 • Mortality, 1,025 km 2 • RI HMA, habitat and mortality 443 km 2 combined 350 km 2 • CAI 3,939 km 2 • CAII 6,862 km 2 11

Dominant sediment type (SASI grid) Substrate Low energy High energy Area, km 2 M S G C B M S G C B No action EFH Closed Area I EFH N (607, #1) - 4% - - - 2% 82% 12% <1% - 2,028 Closed Area I EFH S (263, #1) - - - - - <1% 92% 7% 1% - 617 Closed Area II EFH (1,175, #1) 1% 1% <1% - - <1% 32% 53% 12% <1% 650 No action groundfish Closed Area I GF (2,628, #1) - 2% - - - 1% 81% 14% 2% <1% 4,063 Closed Area II GF (2,904, #1) <1% 5% 1% - - 1% 84% 8% 2% <1% 6,826 Habitat management areas EFH South (195, #7) - - - - - 1% 53% 38% 8% 1% 277 Georges Shoal 2 (277, #7) - - - - - - 66% 17% 16% - 1,039 Northern Georges (3,229, #8) 2% 16% 1% - - <1% 43% 25% 13% <1% 4,808 Western area (429, #9) - - - - - - 43% 25% 30% 1% 895 Eastern area (517, #9) - <1% - - - <1% 58% 32% 9% 1% 611 Mortality area (1,099, #9) - <1% <1% - - <1% 19% 61% 19% 1% 435 Georges Bank/GSC region 2% 21% 1% <1% - 1% 64% 8% 3% <1% 48,992 (17,663, n/a) 12

Seabed vulnerability, data support, dominant substrate

Dominant sediment type 15

Sediment stability

Alternative 1 Alternative 7 Alt. 8 Alternative 9 CAI N CAI S CAII EFH Georges Northern Western Eastern Mortality Habitat Habitat Habitat South Shoal 2 Georges MBTG MBTG Closure 0.63 1.45 0.11 0.52 2.51 0.65 0.54 0.59 0.05 Stable Unstable Stable Stable Unstable Stable Stable Stable Stable June 1, 2015 Georges Bank Analysis 17

Overlap with designated EFH for benthic species and lifestages EFH Georges Northern Western Eastern Mortality Species and lifestage South Shoal 2 Georges Area Area Closure Atlantic cod juvenile Full Moderate Moderate High High High Haddock juvenile High None Moderate Slight High High Total score 68 47 72 60 69 79 Count of species represented (out of 23) 17 13 23 18 16 20 Count of designations represented (out of 43) 25 19 41 27 25 33 • Modifiers (slight/moderate) are relative to each management area • Thus, a moderate proportion of the N. Georges area is designated for juvenile cod and haddock, but the area overlaps more designations overall because it is so large • Of the six areas, Georges Shoal 2 has the lowest overlap with designated EFH June 1, 2015 18

Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat  Caveats  Conclusions are preliminary right now  The amount of fishing effort authorized in the Mortality Closure or Reduced Impact HMA (Committee preferred) will have substantial bearing on the degree of adverse impacts minimization achieved.  Effort displacement into other vulnerable habitat types will need to be considered – complex issue.  Current status as a habitat closure that has led to benthic habitat recovery matters in terms of estimating impacts. June 1, 2015 19

Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat  Estimated ranking of alternatives from most to least adverse effects minimization:  Alternative 8 (Northern Georges HMA) – DEIS highly positive (+++)  Alt 1/No Action – DEIS positive (++)  Alternative 9 – not in DEIS  Committee preferred alternative (similar to Alternative 9 in the east, and less adverse effects minimization in the west)  Alternative 7 – DEIS slightly positive (+) DEIS: 3 ++, 4++, 5 --, 6A +++, 6B - June 1, 2015 20

Juvenile groundfish hotspots (unweighted) Species and season Alt 1 Alt 7 Alt 8 Alt 9 Ctte 0 Yellowtail (Summer & Fall) 0 1 1 1 12 Red hake (Fall) 0 26 9 4 8 Haddock (Fall) 0 7 2 2 5 Winter flounder (Summer) 1 14 7 7 1 American plaice (Fall) 0 0 0 0 0 Windowpane (Fall) 0 2 0 0 26 Total 1 50 19 14 June 1, 2015 21

Juvenile cod distribution June 1, 2015 22

<15 cm

Impacts to large mesh groundfish Species Alternative Alternative Alternative Alternative Committee 1/No Action 7 8 9 pref. Cod Positive Negative Highly Slightly Slightly Positive Negative Negative Haddock Highly Highly Positive Negative Negative Positive Negative Winter Positive Negative Highly Positive Slightly flounder Positive Positive Windowpa Uncertain Uncertain Uncertain Uncertain Uncertain ne flounder Yellowtail Uncertain Uncertain Uncertain Uncertain Uncertain flounder Considering only juvenile cod, haddock, winter flounder, yellowtail flounder, and windowpane flounder, the Committee’s preferred alternative would have mixed (impacts when compared to No Action. This assessment is preliminary and the conclusions may change upon review of additional data. June 1, 2015 28

Revenue by gear type and area Western and Eastern Areas Mortality Area Alternative 9 MBTG Closure, 2005 - 2012 Alternative 9 MBTG Closure, 2008 - 2012 Alternative 9 MBTG Closure, 2010 - 2012 Bottom Trawl Clam Dredge Longline Midwater Trawl Other Gear Pot SAP Trawl Scallop Dredge Graphs by Area and years 29

MBTG revenue by gear and area – VTR 2010-2012 Western Vessel Median # area Size Mean Rev Rev SD Rev Max Rev Min Rev Indv trip Bot. trawl L 1,606,851 1,595,582 50,322 1,661,852 1,563,119 68 880 Bot. trawl OTHER 156,550 149,903 27,352 186,613 133,135 15 96 Clam drg. ALL 595,306 - - - - 2 59 SAP trawl ALL 112,597 123,802 53,483 159,590 54,400 24 129 Scal. drg. L 870,492 1,018,994 647,439 1,430,778 161,703 36 51 Scal. drg. OTHER 32,243 45,770 28,044 50,959 - 5 4 Mortality Vessel Median # area Size Mean Rev Rev SD Rev Max Rev Min Rev Indv trip Bot. trawl L 337,524 292,548 106,788 459,443 260,581 58 534 Bot. trawl OTHER 20,803 21,597 10,576 30,959 9,853 12 56 SAP Trawl ALL 72,391 70,695 45,725 118,940 27,537 20 95 Scal. drg. L 1,884,799 978,545 2,193,115 4,385,799 290,053 36 50 Scal. drg. OTHER 116,059 97,604 119,583 243,796 6,776 3 4 June 1, 2015 30