Stellwagen Bank Final EIS and Management Plan 



Page 125 



under standard Title III procedures for such actions. 

 The use of the process allowing for certification of 

 other permits would be somewhat less burdensome 

 administratively than the Special Use Permit 

 process. 



c. Prohibition of Installation Within Scmctuary 

 Boundaries: This is the preferred regulatory 

 alternative. Under this option, the installation of 

 pipelines or submarine cables within the Sanctuary 

 would be prohibited. This prohibition would 

 eliminate any possibiUty of damage-induced leaks 

 within the Sanctuary in pipelines and electrical 

 cables, as well as any potential adverse impacts 

 associated with installation. Additionally, possible 

 damage to fish spawning areas, fishing gear, or 

 archeologjcal sites will be prevented by adoption of 

 this alternative. 



14. Fishing Activities 



a. No Regulation: This is the preferred 

 regulatory alternative. Under the regulatory status 

 quo , commercial fishing activities, as well as some 

 recreational fishing activities, would continue to be 

 regulated by various fishery management plans 

 (FMPs) developed by Fishery Management Councils 

 and approved by the Secretary of Commerce. 

 Implementation of FMPs would continue to be the 

 responsibility of NMFS, the U.S. Coast Guard, and 

 an FMP Technical Monitoring Group. Fishing 

 activities involving Atlantic bluefin tuna would 

 continue to be subject to landing quotas established 

 via the International Commission for the 

 Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), and 

 allocated through NMFS. (Note, however, the 

 recent inclusion of the bluefin tima fishery into the 

 reauthorization of the FCMA, in order to enhance 

 NMFS^ abiUty to provide improved species 

 management.) 



In addition to direct regulation imposed 

 through FMPs, fishing activities are also subject to 

 existing regulations pertaining to provisions of the 

 MMPA and the ESA, as well as to NMFS 

 guidelines related to operation of fishing vessels in 

 proximity to marine mammals. 



Within the context of NO AA 5 consideration of 

 this area for National Marine Sanctuary designation. 



fisheries have been identified as a resource of 

 national significance. Also established is the 

 presently overfished, or potentially overfished, status 

 of several groundfish stocks within the Sanctuary 

 and the extended marine areas surrounding it. A 

 primary objective under Title III is to ensure the 

 long-term protection and viability of this resource. 

 As discussed at Part Two, Section Il.C.l.d., the 

 regulatory mechanism established by the FCMA 

 provides for comprehensive authority over fishing 

 activities. NOAA/OCRM beheves the existing 

 mechanism for regulation of fishing is appropriate 

 and sufficient to attain the objective of species 

 protection and maintenance shared by the FCMA 

 and Title III. NOAA/OCRM recognizes, however, 

 that the current implementation of that existing 

 mechanism is inadequate. In response to the 

 identified problems, a number of initiatives have 

 been implemented to restore depleted stocks, and to 

 better manage fisheries generally. 



NOAA/OCRM does not believe the 

 imposition of Sanctuary fishing regulations would 

 provide any constructive benefit to the issues 

 currently being addressed by other authorities. One 

 factor in this determination is the existing authority 

 of the Fishery Management Councils and NMFS to 

 address fisheries management from the perspective 

 of a larger geographic area than that encompassed 

 by the Sanctuary. In addition, NOAA/OCRM 

 believes that appropriate Sanctuary management 

 does not necessarily mandate regulation. In this 

 instance, the role of the Sanctuary should be to 

 work in close coordination with both NMFS and the 

 Fishery Management Coimcils to ensure that: 

 necessary scientific and management information is 

 provided; appropriate information to the user and 

 other concerned pubUc is provided; and assistance 

 in enforcement efforts is made available. 



b. Identify the Activity as Subject to 

 Regulation: Under this regulatory alternative, no 

 Sanctuary regulation of fishing activities would be 

 proposed at this time. The appropriate Fishery 

 Management Councils and NFMS would continue 

 to exercise their mandates under the FCMA, and in 

 response to recent initiatives to restore depleted 

 groundfish stocks. However, under this alternative, 

 NOAA/OCRM would be provided with the means 

 to fill any regulatory gap related to fishing activities 



