Stellwagen Bank Final EIS and Management Plan 



Page 11 



A. The Regional Context 



Stellwagen Bank is located in the southwestern 

 Gulf of Maine, which is formed by the bight of the 

 northwest Atlantic coastline between Cape Cod, 

 Massachusetts and Cape Sable, Nova Scotia (Figure 

 2). Roughly rectangular in shape, the Gulf of 

 Maine measures about 200 miles (321.8 km) long by 

 120 miles (193.1 km) wide. A series a shallow 

 banks forms its southern border and isolates it from 

 deeper waters of the North Atlantic, except at the 

 Northwest Chaimel, where Gulf depths attain 270 

 meters. The Gulf and its offshore banks constitute 

 a geographic entity that has maintained its integrity 

 for at least the last 13,000 years (Campbell, 1987). 



Between Cape Ann and Cape Cod, in the 

 southwest corner of the Gulf, is Massachusetts Bay, 

 75% enclosed by land. The Bay's most prominent 

 submarine feature is Stellwagen Bank, which lies at 

 the Bay's eastern edge and partially blocks its 

 mouth. The Stellwagen Bank is a shallow, glacially- 

 deposited, primarily sandy feature, curving in a 

 southeast-to-northwest direction for almost 20 miles. 

 Water depths over and around the Bank range from 

 65 feet to more than 300 feet. Seaward of the 

 Bank, the seafloor slopes to depths of 600 feet or 

 more. 



1. Location and Boundary of Sanctuary 



The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary 

 is located approximately 25 nautical miles east of 

 Boston, Massachusetts, at the eastern edge of 

 Massachusetts Bay. The site is also located 

 approximately 3 miles north-northwest of Race 

 Point (Provincetown), Massachusetts; and 3 miles 

 southeast of Cape Ann (Gloucester), Massachusetts. 

 The Bank feature itself measures 18.75 miles in 

 length, and roughly 6.25 miles across at its widest 

 point, at the southern end of the Bank. The 

 Sanctuary boundary occurs entirely within Federal 

 waters, i.e., beyond the three-mile limit of 

 Commonwealth jurisdiction. The Sanctuary 

 boundary surrounds the entirety of the Stellwagen 

 Bank feature, as well as Tillies Bank (situated to the 

 northeast), and southern portions of Jeffreys Ledge 

 (situated to the north). The Sanctuary's southern 

 border follows a line tangential to the seaward limit 

 of Commonwealth jurisdiction adjacent to the 



Commonwealth-designated Cape Cod Bay Ocean 

 Sanctuary; and is also tangential to waters 

 designated by the Commonwealth as the Cape Cod 

 Ocean Sanctuary. The northwest border of the 

 Sanctuary coincides with the Commonwealth- 

 designated North Shore Ocean Sanctuary. 



The Sanctuary boundary is marked by the 

 following coordinates, which indicate the northeast, 

 southeast, southwest, west- northwest, and north- 

 northwest points: 42°45'59.83"N x 70°13'01.77"W 

 (NE); 42°05'35.51"N x 70°02'08.14"W (SE); 

 42°07'44.89"N x 70°28'15.44"W (SW); 42°32'53.52"N 

 X 70°35'52.38"W (WNW); and 42°39'04.08"N x 

 70°30'11.29"(W) (NNW). The Sanctuary boundary 

 encompasses approximately 638 square nautical 

 miles, or 842 square miles (Figure 3). 



2. Regional Access 



Resources of the Stellwagen Bank area have 

 traditionally supported an active commercial fishing 

 industry, which reaches the Bank's fishing grounds 

 primarily from Gloucester (approximately 12 miles 

 northwest of the north end of the Bank), and 

 Provincetown (approximately 6 miles south of the 

 southern end of the Bank) (Figure 2). Additional 

 fishing ports using the area include Boston, 

 Chatham, New Bedford, Plymouth, Scituate, 

 Hyannis, Fall River, Manomet, Falmouth, Wellfleet, 

 Barnstable, Beverly, Salem, Ipswich, Rockport, 

 Dartmouth, Westport, Fairhaven, Cuttyhimk, 

 Duxbury, and Onset. Out-of-state fishing vessels 

 also visit the Bank area from New Hampshire 

 (primarily Portsmouth), Maine, and (less frequently) 

 Connecticut. Currently, there are approximately 280 

 commercial fishing vessels fishing regularly in the 

 Stellwagen Bank region. (Kellogg, 1990). 



Recently, the number of both commercial and 

 recreational vessels using the Bank for 

 whalewatching activities has increased. These 

 vessels operate primarily out of Provincetown and 

 Gloucester. Overall, commercial whalewatch vessels 

 using Stellwagen Bank seasonally number 

 approximately 40. (MacKenzie, 1986). 



B. Sanctuary Resources 



Stellwagen Bank is a glacially-deposited, primarily 



