Ocean Zoning for the Gulf of Maine: A Background Paper

Coastal and ocean management is a constantly evolving practice. For at least two decades, coastal communities around the world have been experimenting with new ways to control a multitude of activities in their urban and rural harbors. The number and diversity of Marine Protected Areas are growing, with an increasing focus on protecting integrated biological communities, rather than individual species of concern. The United States and Canada are each developing new, comprehensive ocean polices, looking to better integrate management functions at all levels of government. All of these initiatives – from local to national - reflect some common truths about the state of the marine environment worldwide: the intensity of human disturbance in coastal and ocean resources is increasing. Fifty to 80% of the global population lives within 50 miles of the coast. Fisheries are in decline, while recreational boating, shipping, undersea cables, energy development and mineral extraction are on the rise. Science is slowly unraveling the complexities of marine ecosystem functioning, while on a parallel track technology is allowing exploitation of ocean resources further offshore, and in deeper waters, extending the reach of human impacts. In response to these pressures, ocean managers worldwide are investigating new methods for equitably allocating the use of limited marine resources while protecting the integrity of the ocean ecosystem. Within this context, the Gulf of Maine Council for the Marine Environment sponsored an Ocean Zoning Forum in December 2002, to explore the current practice and new approaches to spatially explicit ocean use management

Padanaram Harbor Management Plan

The Padanaram Harbor Management Plan was developed over a two‐year period, from 2017–2019, by a broad spectrum of Dartmouth governmental officials, citizens of the Town, regional and state agency staff, and representatives of non‐governmental organizations. There was significant public involvement through open meetings and an online survey. During the entire process, drafts of elements of the Plan were posted on the website of the Planning Board as they became available. The work was supported in consultation with staff of the Urban Harbors Institute from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Funding was provided through a grant from the Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council and a local match

Mirebalais, Haiti Planning Initiative

The Mirebalais Planning Initiative (MPI), a joint project of the Urban Harbors Institute at UMass Boston, Boston University, and the University of the West Indies, is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The initiative is a community-based participatory planning process designed to expand community leadership and decision-making capacity among community members in Mirebalais, Haiti

Nantucket Shellfish Management Plan

Nantucket’s shellfish resources are an important part of the Island’s history, culture, and economy. Nantucket waters support one of the country’s last wild-caught bay scallop fisheries. Elsewhere along the Atlantic coast, fishing pressure, habitat loss, and disease have severely depleted bay scallop populations. Although Nantucketers continue to make a living harvesting shellfish from the Island’s waters, many do so with concern for the future of the resources and the habitats that support them. Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) provided technical assistance to the community to develop a Shellfish Management Plan (SMP) that addresses issues of water quality, habitat loss, climate change, shellfish propagation, regulatory concerns, and the sustainability of the commercial and recreational fishery. Of particular value is the outline of future research needed to support management activities. Species addressed include: Bay scallop, Conch, Mussel, Quahog, Oyster, and Soft-Shell Clam

Identification of Outer Continental Shelf Renewable Energy Space-Use Conflicts and Analysis of Potential Mitigation Measures

The ocean accommodates a wide variety of uses that are separated by time of day, season, location, and zones. Conflict can and does occur, however, when two or more groups wish to use the same space at the same time in an exclusive manner. The potential for conflict is well known and the management of ocean space and resources has been, and is being, addressed by a number of State, regional, and Federal organizations, including, among others, coastal zone management agencies, state task forces, and regional fisheries management councils. However, with new and emerging uses of the ocean, such as aquaculture and offshore renewable energy, comes the potential for new types of space-use conflicts in ocean waters. In recent years, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) (formerly the Minerals Management Service [MMS]) has examined ocean space-use conflicts and mitigation strategies in the context of offshore oil and gas exploration and production and sand and gravel dredging, activities that are both subject to BOEM regulation and oversight. BOEM now has authority to issue leases on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for renewable energy projects, but seeks additional information on potential conflicts between existing uses of the ocean environment and this new form of activity. The broad purpose of this study was to begin to fill this gap by (1) identifying potential spaceuse conflicts between OCS renewable energy development and other uses of the ocean environment, and (2) recommending measures that BOEM can implement in order to promote avoidance or mitigation of such conflicts, thereby facilitating responsible and efficient development of OCS renewable energy resources. The result is a document intended to serve as a desktop resource that BOEM can use to inform its decision making as the agency carries out its statutory and regulatory responsibilities

2010 Massachusetts Recreational Boater Survey: Final Report Submitted to the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership

The Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan (Plan) completed in 2009 recognized recreational boating as an activity with “significant actual and prospective conflicts among multiple waterway uses in Massachusetts” and included the economic value of recreational boating as a key socio-economic indicator that will be used to inform coastal management. At the time of Plan completion, statistically robust recreational boating data were identified as an important need for comprehensive ocean planning. To fill this data gap, the 2010 Massachusetts Recreational Boater Survey gathered information on boating activity in Massachusetts’ coastal and ocean waters directly from recreational boaters. Researchers sent 10,000 surveys to owners of Massachusetts registered and documented vessels in the spring of 2010 asking for participation in the six month study. Over 22% responded and provided detailed information through monthly surveys between May and October about their boating trips including expenditures, recreational activities, and routes. Boaters plotted their spatial data (routes and activity areas) using an innovative online open source mapping tool. Using statistical methods and economic models, the demographic and economic information from the sample of boaters was generalized to the population of Massachusetts boaters. Results revealed the economic contribution of this activity to the Massachusetts economy - an estimated $806 million in 2010. Information gathered through the survey was also compiled into comprehensive maps depicting recreational boating patterns and density, and was used to better understand details of the recreational boating community, such as the most common boat size, the typical age of Bay State boaters, etc. The research findings will be incorporated into the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan and can be used by resource managers, the boating industry and others in many ways, such as ensuring boating routes and destinations receive appropriate attention in ocean planning efforts

Developing Performance Indicators to Evaluate the Management Effectiveness of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan

In June 2009, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) released its draft Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan (draft plan) for public comment. The plan is required by the Oceans Act of 2008 to, among other things, be adaptive to evolving knowledge and understanding of the ocean environment. The plan’s Science Framework establishes a blueprint for future research and data acquisition and ensuring that the plan evolves and its management measures adapt to this new and enhanced information. As stated in Chapter 5 of the draft plan, an important part of the science framework is the development and implementation of a performance evaluation system with a series of indicators to help EEA and stakeholders evaluate the implementation of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan, identify the environmental and socio-economic impacts of plan management decisions, and identify new or emerging issues. Volume 2 of the draft plan contains a section entitled Development of Evaluation Measures for the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan. This section outlines a proposed process “to identify measures of success or indicators that can be used to measure performance of management strategies in achieving desired outcomes.” As the development of indicators is a high priority of the draft plan, the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership (MOP) in consultation with EEA contracted with the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) of the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston). The project team1 and other professionals from organizations and agencies experienced with the selection and use of indicators conducted the process outlined in Volume 2 of the draft plan to identify and select a set of environmental, socio-economic, and governmental indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan. The work described in this report also contributes to a broader interest and goal of the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership which is to coordinate indicator initiatives to inform ocean management and to advance the development and use of indicators of the ocean’s ability to provide ecosystem services. Currently, there are a number of initiatives, focusing on the coastal and ocean areas of the Northwest Atlantic/Gulf of Maine region, to develop indicators for various purposes and audiences. The process and products of this work in support of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan (e.g., the list of indicators and associated data) will be useful in collaborative efforts to integrate and coordinate these regional efforts

Compatibility Determination: Considerations for Siting Coastal and Ocean Uses (DRAFT)

This draft report is one of several prepared under contract to the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership (MOP) to support the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) in its development of the integrated coastal ocean management plan mandated by the MA Oceans Act of 2008. Among other requirements, the Oceans Act states that the plan shall “identify appropriate locations and performance standards for activities, uses and facilities allowed under sections 15 and 16 of chapter 132A.” To fulfill this requirement, the EOEEA planning team wanted to utilize compatibility determinations as a tool for considering the appropriate locations for activities, uses and facilities relative to one another. This report was prepared for Massachusetts ocean planning purposes but contains information that may be useful to coastal ocean resource managers in other locations

COASTSWEEP: The Massachusetts Coastal Cleanup Program

Through this project, volunteers in communities throughout Massachusetts turn out in large numbers each September and October for COASTSWEEP, the statewide coastal cleanup program sponsored by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and coordinated by the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) of the University of Massachusetts Boston. COASTSWEEP is part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) organized by Ocean Conservancy in Washington, DC. Through the efforts of the ICC, volunteers from all over the world collect marine debris and record information about the trash they collect. This information is then analyzed and used to identify sources of debris and to develop education and policy initiatives to help reduce marine debris globally

Nantucket Shellfish Management Plan

Nantucket’s shellfisheries are significant both locally and nationally. Locally, commercial and recreational shellfishing are critical to the Island’s history, culture, and economy. Nationally, the Island’s largest commercial shellfishery — the Nantucket bay scallop fishery is one of the last wild-harvest bay scallop fisheries in the country, but there is growing concern over the health of the overall population and the sustainability of the fishery. Given the importance of the shellfisheries on Nantucket and the drastic decline of bay scallop populations elsewhere along the Atlantic coast, there is a compelling interest in ensuring that the Town’s shellfish are managed to sustain both the shellfishing industry and the resources. This is the first official management plan for commercially and recreationally harvested shellfish in Nantucket waters. The Plan addresses bay scallops, quahogs, oysters, mussels, soft‐shell clams, and conchs