NOAA Fisheries Reopens Comment Period for Proposed Dredge Exemption Areas in the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area
The New England Fishery Management Council requested the comment period be reopened due to concerns that an error in a URL in the proposed rule may have prevented some individuals from submitting comments. We are reopening the comment period through November 18, 2019, and including the correct URL should ensure all interested parties are able to comment on the proposed action.
Proposed Measures for Three Exemption Areas
NOAA Fisheries seeks comments on proposed measures for three exemption areas within the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area (HMA) where dredge fishing for surfclams or mussels would be allowed.
The New England Fishery Management Council created the Great South Channel HMA as part of its Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2, which prohibited the use of all mobile bottom-tending fishing gear in the area. The HMA contains complex benthic habitat that is important for juvenile cod and other groundfish species, but also susceptible to the impacts of fishing.
This action would allow the surfclam fishery to operate hydraulic dredge gear year-round in two small areas (McBlair and Fishing Rip) and seasonally in a third area (Old South) within the HMA. Mussel dredge fishing would also be allowed in these exemption areas.
These exemption areas were chosen to allow relatively limited access to some historical surfclam fishing grounds, while protecting the majority of the HMA. The three exemption areas total only 6.9 percent of the total area of the HMA, and do not include areas most clearly identified as containing complex and vulnerable habitats.
 Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930
Comments are due date by November 18, 2019. For more details please read the draft environmental assessment as provided on the Council website.
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