Conservationists, and some of Maine's remaining ground fishermen, are at odds over a plan to allow bottom trawling near a protected, underwater mountain range in the Gulf of Maine.
New England fisheries regulators will be in Brewer tonight, and Portland tomorrow evening, to hear comments on the proposal at two public hearings.
Some fishermen argue the plan will allow for some badly-needed trawling opportunities at a time when deep cuts to the cod quota in the waters off Maine have decimated the industry here.
Conservationists, though, say opening the area, near Cashes Ledge, will undo years of efforts to protect this unique, underwater ecosystem.
Visualize for a moment Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park, where rugged, granite peaks rise from forested valleys of spruce and pine. Now imagine this stunning landscape submerged, underwater, 100 miles off the Portland. That's Cashes Ledge.
"Cashes Ledge is a singular area in the region," says Michelle Bachman, a fishery analyst with the New England Fishery Management Council. The ocean floor at the base of Cashes Ledge is hundreds of feet deep. Bachman says it's the top of the ledge, a place called Ammen Rock, that makes the Cashes so special. It's around 40 feet below the surface.
"Because it's so shallow, sunlight can get down to the top of the ledge feature. So there's kelp habitat there," Bachman says.
We're talking the largest and deepest kelp forest on the entire Atlantic seaboard. This unique habitat is essentially a buffet line for a diverse array of marine life. Groundfish like cod and pollock are abundant. Schools of bluefin tuna feed there. So do sharks, humpback whales and the endangered, North Atlantic right whale.
In 2002, the New England Fishery Management Council closed more than 500 square miles around Cashes Ledge because of over fishing, and fears that bottom trawling and dredging in the mud flats around the ledge were damaging the ecosystem. But now, Bachman says regulators are proposing a change to boundaries of the protected area.
"The preferred alternative, from the council at this point, is to take that habitat closure and basically shift the western boundary to the east, and it makes the area just a little bit smaller," she says.
Under the change, ground fishermen would be able to bottom trawl for species like pollock and redfish in the some of the waters surrounding Cashes Ledge. The ledge itself, along with the area around Ammen Rock, would remain closed.
"We're protecting habitat," says Terry Alexander, who runs a trawler out of Portland, and is a member of the fisheries management council. He supports changing the habitat boundary. In 1990, there were more than 300 ground fishing vessels in Maine's fleet. Over fishing, and the steep subsequent cuts to the cod quota, has reduced the number of boats to fewer than 50.
Alexander says many of them would take advantage of the new territory, if the council ends up approving the change. "You know, we manage fish with annual catch limits - very strict annual catch limits," he says. "To say that we're going to catch resident cod fish, coming out of those areas, is just plain not true."
But that's exactly what conservationists fear will happen, if the habitat boundary around Cashes Ledge is altered. Peter Shelly is with the Conservation Law Foundation.
"It just seems to us like it's more the same old thing we've been struggling with the last 20 years, and has ultimately resulted in almost the total commercial collapse of cod fish," Shelly says.
Conservationists also worry that allowing bottom trawling will hurt the habitat that is actually helping cod stocks to recover. Shelly also questions the fishery management council's ability to make an impartial decision.
"Some of the proponents of going into these closed areas are people who have direct economic benefits associated with the decisions they're making with this public resource," he says. "These are fishermen, on the fishery management council, who get to vote."
Public comment on the proposed boundary change ends Thursday. The council hopes to make a decision by the spring.