to pipeline corridors. 



Trawling in both OCS regions occurs to depths of 120 to 555 feet 

 in the Mid Atlantic; thus oil development will have some impact on com- 

 mercial fishing. Species most immediately impacted would be crabs, 

 lobster, scallops, mackerel and flounder. Further problems may arise 

 in that the platforms present navigational obstructions. Also, offshore 

 oil development will increase ship traffic in an already heavily used 

 area. 



Pipelines may pose a problem to bottom trawling techniques and 

 cause fishing gear to snag. However, such pipelines will have to be 

 buried in water depths less than 200 feet and may be laid in corridors 

 to minimize possible problems. Also, pipeline locations will be marked 

 on maps and announced in the Notice to Mariners. 



The overall impact to sport fishing should be minor. In the 

 Mid Atlantic OCS lease area sport fishing is not commonly carried out 

 as far as 40 to 90 miles offshore except for marl in, swordfish and 

 tuna fishing in parts of the Baltimore Canyon Trough and in areas of 

 offshore North Carolina and Florida. There is an extensive offshore 

 charter boat activity on "live bottom" areas in the South Atlantic 

 which could be adversely affected. The sport fishing industry appears 

 not to be affected by offshore platforms in the Mid Atlantic. However, 

 because the width of the continental shelf is much narrower in the 

 South Atlantic, offshore activities may be closer to nearshore sport 

 fisheries and might have more impact. Long duration effects of 

 minor impact are expected for nearshore sport fishing from burial of 

 pipelines or use of support vessels. 



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