Open AccessEvaluating benthic impact of the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery using the Swept Area Seabed Impact (SASI) model
Author(s) -
Andrew Goode,
Jonathan H. Grabowski,
Damian C. Brady
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
canadian journal of fisheries and aquatic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.09
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1205-7533
pISSN - 0706-652X
DOI - 10.1139/cjfas-2020-0305
Subject(s) - fishery , american lobster , fishing , homarus , fisheries management , environmental science , habitat , benthic zone , marine protected area , benthos , groundfish , oceanography , ecology , geology , biology , crustacean
The Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act mandates US fisheries minimize adverse effects of fishing on essential fish habitat (EFH). The Gulf of Maine (GoM) American lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery is the most valuable US fishery and can deploy more than three million traps annually. To date, the impact of this fishery on benthic EFH has not been addressed quantitatively. To evaluate the impact of the GoM lobster fishery on EFH, we incorporated lobster fishing effort into a model linking habitat susceptibility and recovery to area impacted by fishing gear: the Swept Area Seabed Impact model. Impact to EFH was localized along the coast and highest along midcoast Maine. Upwards of 13% of the benthos is in the process of recovery, but between 99.92% and 99.96% of initially affected habitat fully recovers. These estimates suggest that lobster fishing negligibly contributes to accumulation of EFH damage in the GoM due to the expansive area fished and the small footprint of each trap. Identifying areas of persistent impact is crucial in developing effective fisheries management for critical marine habitats.