° Spe.arfishing 



The proposed regulation would prohibit spearfishing within the entire 

 preferred sanctuary boundary. One of the primary impacts of prohibiting the 

 spearing of fish will be to create better conditions for observing, studying 

 and photographing fish. This prohibition will also benefit the ecological 

 system by ameliorating the continued disturbance and removal of territorial 

 reef predators such as grouper, eliminating physical damage to coral from 

 inexperienced spearfishmen, reducing the inadvertent kill of non-edible 

 tropical reef fish species, and eliminating the potential for human injury. 



° Discharges 



The prohibition of discharges will help insure a high degree of water 

 quality by preventing the discharge or deposit of most material within the sanct- 

 uary. The regulation allows the discharge of chumming materials and fish parts, 

 cooling waters, and effluents from marine sanitation devices. The regulation 

 will not impact fishing activities. The economic impact on sanctuary users is 

 minimal, although they will be required to retain their trash for disposal in 

 proper sites. 



° Historical or cultural resources 



Tampering with, removing or damaging historical or cultural resources 

 is prohibited. The regulation will protect the HMS Looe from possible 

 tampering or removal. 



VII. ACTIVITIES LISTED IN THE DESIGNATION DOCUMENT FOR WHICH REGULATIONS 

 ARE NOT CURRENTLY BEING PROPOSED 



° Alteration of or construction on the seabed. 



° Bottom trawling and specimen-dredging. 



The Army Corps of Engineers (COE) exercises authority over construction 

 and the dumping of dredged materials but not the actual dredging. The Bureau 

 of Land Management (BLM) has jurisdiction over dredging activities related to 

 mineral leasing such as sand and gravel mining. However, no other existing 

 Federal regulatory authority has jurisdiction over other activities that might 

 alter the seabed such as dredging. Exploratory trawling for reef fish on live 

 bottoms in the South Atlantic has proven economically and technically feasible. 

 It is possible that some time in the future modified gear such as roller trawls 

 would be contemplated for use in areas such as Looe Key. 



While adverse impacts of both of the above activities are well documented, 

 NOAA has no evidence to indicate that they pose realistic threats to the resour- 

 ces at this time. For this reason NOAA is not promulgating regulations but is 

 listing these activities in the Designation Document, and may issue regulations 

 at a future date if the need arises. 



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