408 



of barium are detected in sediments from the Secondary Site-Specific Stations or the new 

 far-field stations, a subset of these, including Stations 5-23, 5-2'f, 5-26 and 5-27 should be 

 analyzed for benthic infauna and sediment grain size. 



• Additional effort should be made to obtain more samples of Arctica islandica 

 or other suitable macroinfaunal animals at Site-Specific Stations having elevated sedi- 

 ment barium concentrations, for metals and petroleum hydrocarbon analysis. This will 

 help answer the critical question of whether materials from drilling discharges accumulat- 

 ing on the bottom are bioavailable. 



• Because of the problems with the wet-weight biomass technique, as 

 discussed in the final report, the method for determining biomass should be re-evaluated. 

 For at least one set of samples, another technique, such as decalcified wet weights or ash- 

 free dry weights, should be used in order to establish a better estimate of secondary 

 productivity. 



3. BACKGROUND 



The Georges Bank, a large plateau lying under 3 to 200 meters of water 80 to 

 325 km east-southeast of the Massachusetts coast, is one of the most productive 

 commercial fishery areas in the world. Many species of finfish and shellfish, including 

 codfish, haddock, flounder, ocean scallops, and lobster, with a market value in excess of 

 165 million dollars are harvested from Georges Bank each year. 



As known domestic reserves for oil and gas have dwindled and dependence on 

 foreign sources of these fossil fuels has increased, there has been a growing interest in 

 exploring new oil and gas reserves in the coastal and Outer Continental Shelf waters of 

 the United States, including the Georges Bank. The first offering of lease tracts for 

 exploratory drilling on Georges Bank (Lease Sale //'f2) took place in December, 1979. In 

 this offering, a total of 63 blocks, each 3x3 miles (23.3 km^), on Georges Bank were 

 leased by major oil companies or consortia. Two additional lease offerings are scheduled 

 for the North Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf, including portions of Georges Bank 

 (Figure 1). All lease blocks in Lease Area it2 and those blocks in the proposed Lease Area 

 52 that actually are on Georges Bank are located along the south-central and southwest 

 portion of the Bank. The area of geologic potential for the proposed North Atlantic Lease 

 Offering (February, 198'*) includes much of the remainder of Georges Bank, as well as 

 areas in deeper water (exceeding 2,000 m). 



