Multispecies Coastal Shelf Recovery Plan: A Collaborative, Ecosystem-Based Approach

Abstract This article explains the integration of an ecosystem into a collaborative management plan to restore New England's depleted multispecies groundfish stocks and decimated coastal fishery. Applying lessons learned from Maine's successful fishery for lobsters Homarus americanus, the Downeast Groundfish Initiative (an eclectic group of fishermen, scientists, and concerned individuals) created a new groundfish management approach designed to nest seamlessly within existing federal and state management systems and be compatible with a total allowable catch (TAC) approach, though it does not require TAC as the primary management tool. The plan resolves fine-scale issues affecting the fishery's biological productivity and addresses the economic, social, and cultural factors confronting fishing communities. The inadequacy of systemwide assessments in detecting local changes in marine ecosystems led to the creation of smaller, contiguous coastal shelf management units each of which encompasses the subpopulation of a key species such as Atlantic cod Gadus morhua. Each unit would have an inshore core layer encompassing the species' spawning grounds and nursery habitats while providing a limited, small-scale fishery for local fishermen using selective, habitat-friendly gear. A buffer layer outside the core area that brackets coastal shelf migration routes would also support a fishery using all legal gear types but with constraints, and an outer layer would provide a fishery operating under current federal regulations. The core and buffer areas would be collaboratively managed to enhance local stock recovery by local advisory councils of fishermen functioning under state administration and regional council oversight. The coastal shelf plan synchronizes the needs of coastal ecosystems and fishermen by restoring species diversity and protecting critical habitats while rebuilding commercial stocks. The approach can create robust, sustainable fisheries for all user groups, resolve equity issues among fishermen, and revitalize the economies of fishing communities of all sizes.