Search

Apr 9, 2018

New England coastlines as juvenile cod habitat

On January 3, 2018, the New England Fishery Management Council designated new Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC)for inshore jvenile cod. NOAA  feature article on the HAPC  * **   NOAA's HAPC  IJAC Habitat types defined w/photos (pdf)

The HAPC applies to areas of gravelly, rocky or vegetated habitats and adjacent sandy areas in coastal waters from Maine to Rhode Island, from the high tide line out to the 20 meters depth contour.

INTERTIDAL HAPC HABITATS

SUBTIDAL HAPC HABITATS                        6. Pebble-gravel pavement
Defined as pavement unless sampling determines less than 10% pebble-gravel content.

NEFMC staff infolved with HAPCs 
Michelle Bachman (lead)NEFMC fishery analyst  mbachman@nefmc.org   978/465-0492 ext 120
*  Andy Applegate (asst) NEFMC Ecosystem based fishery management   (978) 465-0492 (ext. 114)  email: aapplegate@nefmc.org

While not rare in the Gulf of Maine, these habitats need special protection for three reasons:
* They provide young-of-the-year and year-old cod shelter from predators and important feeding habitat.
* They are particularly sensitive to human activities.
* They are also important habitats for many other fish.

These places need to be located and documented so that govt decisionmakers can block would-be coastal development projects that would send sending polluted runoff and silt into these areas. Join a mapping team this spring and summer!














No comments:

Post a Comment