New England Closed Areas

[goosefish]

These are the closed areas for groundfish and scallops. But the entire country has been watching closely what New England will do with these closed areas--they've been here since 1998 or so. Also the Obama Administration through his Ocean Policy Task Force is looking into dividing up the ocean. That means--possibly--Marine Protection Reserves on the edges of Fishing areas and Wind Farms and Shipping Lanes and LNG. Could be crazy. There are a lot of people high up the ladder at NOAA who are very interested in this multiply use management plan.

I don't mind the idea of rolling closures. Open then closed. But full-blown MPAs I find difficult to imagine here in New England. This ain't California. But who knows.