Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area
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Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area is an offshore
marine protected area A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity ...
for deep-sea corals off the coast of the
Mid-Atlantic states The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the nation's Northeastern and Southeastern states. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virg ...
of the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. On September 26, 2016, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...
(NOAA) Fisheries and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council proposed a final rule to designate a large offshore protected area for deep-sea corals in the Mid-Atlantic. The rule took effect on January 13, 2017. The final rule was named in honor of Senator
Frank Lautenberg Frank Raleigh Lautenberg (; January 23, 1924 June 3, 2013) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as United States Senator from New Jersey from 1982 to 2001, and again from 2003 until his death in 2013. He was ori ...
, a U.S. Senator from New Jersey responsible for many
ocean conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is in ...
policies.


Location

Targeted areas include areas of known or highly likely coral presence in underwater canyons or slope areas along the edge of the continental shelf of the United States. The deep-sea coral protection area includes the continental shelf/slope break off the Mid-Atlantic states (New York to North Carolina) to the border of the U.S.'s
Exclusive Economic Zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...
. It starts at a depth of approximately 450 m, and encompasses 15 discrete zones. The area covers 38,000 square miles of federal waters, approximately the same size of
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. According to the
Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States–based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicag ...
, the environmental advocacy group, it is the "largest area in the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico protected from a range of destructive fishing gear."


Regulation

Prohibited gear includes bottom tending otter trawls,
beam trawl Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...
s, hydraulic dredges, non-hydraulic dredges, seines, longlines, pots and traps, and sink or
gill net Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...
s. The rule does not apply to
recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...
, commercial gear types that do not contact the seafloor, or the
American lobster The American lobster (''Homarus americanus'') is a species of lobster found on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of North America, chiefly from Labrador to New Jersey. It is also known as Atlantic lobster, Canadian lobster, true lobster, norther ...
trap fishery and the deep sea red crab commercial trap fishery. Vessels may transit through the area if fishing gear is stowed and not available for immediate use. Requires that vessels issued an ''
Illex ''Illex'', commonly known as shortfin squids, is a genus of squid in the family Ommastrephidae and the only member of the subfamily Illicinae. It contains four species: * '' Illex argentinus'', Argentine shortfin squid * '' Illex coindetii'', so ...
'' squid moratorium permit have a
vessel monitoring system Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) is a general term to describe systems that are used in commercial fishing to allow environmental and fisheries regulatory organizations to track and monitor the activities of fishing vessels. They are a key part of ...
(VMS) installed, and operators of these vessels have to declare ''Illex'' squid trips on which 10,000 lb or more of ''Illex'' squid would be harvested.


History

This act is in accordance with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service approval of Amendment 16 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to protect deep-sea corals from the potential harm of commercial fishing gear. It also follows the central dogma of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to promote optimal exploitation of U.S. coastal fisheries in line with sustainability policies. The Regional Fishery Management Councils has the authority to: :(A) Designate zones where, and periods when, fishing shall be limited, or shall not be permitted, or shall be permitted only by specified types of fishing vessels or with specified types and quantities of fishing gear; :(B) Designate such zones in areas where deep-sea corals are identified under section 408 (this section describes the deep-sea coral research and technology program), to protect deep-sea corals from physical damage from fishing gear or to prevent loss or damage to such fishing gear from interactions with deep-sea corals, after considering long-term sustainable uses of fishery resources in such areas; and :(C) With respect to any closure of an area under the Magnuson-Stevens Act that prohibits all fishing, ensure that such closure: ::(i) Is based on the best scientific information available; ::(ii) Includes criteria to assess the conservation benefit of the closed area; ::(iii) Establishes a timetable for review of the closed area's performance that is consistent with the purposes of the closed area; and ::(iv) Is based on an assessment of the benefits and impacts of the closure, including its size, in relation to other management measures (either alone or in combination with such measures), including the benefits and impacts of limiting access to: Users of the area, overall fishing activity, fishery science, and fishery and marine conservation.


References

{{reflist Marine reserves of the United States