Omnibus Habitat Amendment SERA (Closing Stellwagen Bank)

[Piscator]

The following is a open invite from the Stellwagen Bank Chart Boat Association. This is open to ALL fellow fisherman and should give a good update to the Omnibus Habitat Amendment and SERA proposal which may be the start of the end to fishing on Stellwagen Bank. The meeting will take place on September 17th @ 7PM at Haddad's Ocean Cafe in Brant Rock (Marshfield).

"Hello SBCBA!


During our September 17th SBCBA meeting (at Haddad’s Ocean Café in Brant Rock, 2nd floor) a roast beef buffet with mashed, gravy and veggies will be served for $12/person. Drinks will also be available in the upstairs conference room as well.

This meeting was specifically moved to Haddad's because of the 200+ person seating capacity. We need everyone to be there and to extend an invitation to fellow fishermen. The meeting and presentation will start at 7:00 PM so please plan to arrive early to secure a table and seating. Tom Nies of NEFMC will provide us with an overview of the following:

• Council priority setting process for 2014 (this will be short)
• Update on the Omnibus Habitat Amendment (this will be long and will include discussion of SERA and all the alternatives)
• Other issues – any other topics that members want to raise

As I understand it, among other things, the Habitat Amendment proposes to open up commercial ground fishing in areas previously accessible to only recreational fishing and the SERA proposal will attempt to close off all ground fishing in a 55 square nautical mile zone on Stellwagen Bank.

The SERA proposal implies that they intend to prohibit “bottom” fishing only but anyone that has interfaced with the Sanctuary knows that the SERA is nothing more than a guise for a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and another step in restricting access and controlling the waters of the Sanctuary.

Because these proposals are largely localized in scope, it is not likely that we will get much help from outside the south shore and therefore we need to get as many local fishermen involved in this meeting as possible. The more Rec., Charter and Commercial fishermen we get involved and the sooner they get involved, the better we can organize to try to protect our fishing grounds.

Tom Nies’ presentation should be viewed as an educational and fact finding endeavor and not as a “roast the host” or general compliant session. Tom Nies will answer our questions but any comments still need to be submitted through normal public comment process.

Because of the nature of the Habitat proposal and potentially devastating implications of the SERA, I ask that you help recruit local fishermen by extending an invitation to anyone that fishes Stellwagen Bank. Please bring your fishing buddies and forward this email onto others as the room can hold 200+ people and we do want to try to fill it.

Respectfully Yours,
Steven James
President, SBCBA"