1 DR. VALENTINE: Somebody reading this document in Washington will 



2 see the word "canyon" and he will look on the map and see all the 



3 canyons, and he will think that all of them fit. 



4 DR. HECKER: I don't know which ones in the Georges Bank canyons 



5 this may apply to, but I do know that off New Jersey, say, something 



6 like Hendrickson Canyon looks exactly the same in the shallower depths 



7 and is very, very different from the slope deeper. It would depend on 



8 where we have looked in the canyon. 



9 I would be uncomfortable with some of the c1assifications--some. 



10 DR. COOPER: I think there has also been enough done in Norfolk 



11 Canyon, Barb, to be able to use those characterizations. 



12 DR. HECKER: Oh, yes, Norfolk, no problem. 



13 DR. KRAEUTER: Maybe what we need to do is go out and see where 



14 the fishing gear is to find out which ones meet some of these criteria 



15 by going out and looking for lobster traps. 



16 DR. HECKER: Are you kidding? Whenever I'm out there, the 



17 fishermen ask me where to go. They go, "Where are the tile fish? Where 



18 is this? Where are the red crab traps?" I'm not kidding. The guy that 



19 runs the red crabs-- 



20 DR. COOPER: I know the difference between deep-sea lobster gear, 



21 tile-fish gear and sword fish. 



22 DR. HECKER: Red crab traps are 5 miles long; that much I know, 



23 the lines. I've tangled enough of them to know. 



24 All right. If we characterize the--let's say if we've now 



25 identified the populations that characterize canyons, I also think that 



26 there are quite a few questions left with regard to what are the 



27 biological properties of these organisms. I guess one of the things I 



28 want to raise with regard to--I usually think about megafauna. 



29 Your canyon indicators are largely sessile. They are filter 



30 feeders. They have very, very restricted habitats, in a sense. The 



31 question I am raising here is: Let's just say that we are going to have 



32 an impact. Say, we have development in a canyon. 



33 Let's just take it at faith. I want to sort of bring out a worst 



34 case scenario in terms of questioning some of this. If we want to take 



231 



