1 DR. RAY: They could set traps all day long between those anchors 



2 and never have a problem, as long as they don't lay them across them. 



3 That might be logical to figure there is a chain between a buoy and the 



4 platform, though. 



5 DR. COOPER: The other side of this coin, though, is it is 



6 probably good human relations politics for the oil companies, if they 



7 ever do set up out there, to have a few anchors out to give the 



8 fishermen who lose a half a million dollars of gear a year to put in a 



9 claim. 



10 DR. RAY: Thanks. 



11 MS. HUGHES: The other issue about space-use conflicts is one that 



12 I know at least the Atlantic Off-Shore Fishermen's Association brings up 



13 regularly when talking about this area of the North Atlantic is they 



14 fish here because this is where there are concentrations of the species 



15 that they are looking for, number one. 



16 Oftentimes, you will hear the argument, "Oh, well, there are other 



17 places that they can go." It is fierce competition for a small amount 



18 of space, whether it is among fishermen or between fishermen and other 



19 industries. 



20 I think the other thing that is important to point out is that we 



21 do often think that they are just being excluded from the area that is 



22 marked by the anchors. In fact, a lot of fixed gear is set with the 



23 tide or along isobaths or whatever, so that oftentimes, their 



24 grounds-'that's the only way I can put it. 



25 Depending on the placement of a rig, a much larger area of fishing 



26 ground could be excluded to them because of its location, not just the 



27 area that the rig and the anchors take up. It's actually that it 



28 interferes with the patterns in which they set their gear in that area. 



29 DR. TEAL: Is this specifically related to the canyons? This is a 



30 general problem. 



31 MS. HUGHES: Well, it would be specifically related to the canyons 



32 in that this is an area where at least fixed gear is set for-- 



33 DR. TEAL: In the canyonheads, yes. 



337 



