Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Ahead of Print.
The Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act mandates US fisheries minimize adverse effects of fishing on essential fish habitat (EFH). The Gulf of Maine (GoM) American lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery is the most valuable US fishery and can deploy more than three million traps annually. To date, the impact of this fishery on benthic EFH has not been addressed quantitatively. To evaluate the impact of the GoM lobster fishery on EFH, we incorporated lobster fishing effort into a model linking habitat susceptibility and recovery to area impacted by fishing gear: the Swept Area Seabed Impact model. Impact to EFH was localized along the coast and highest along midcoast Maine. Upwards of 13% of the benthos is in the process of recovery, but between 99.92% and 99.96% of initially affected habitat fully recovers. These estimates suggest that lobster fishing negligibly contributes to accumulation of EFH damage in the GoM due to the expansive area fished and the small footprint of each trap. Identifying areas of persistent impact is crucial in developing effective fisheries management for critical marine habitats.

中文翻译：

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使用扫描区域海床影响（SASI）模型评估缅因湾龙虾渔业的底栖影响

《加拿大渔业和水生科学杂志》，印刷前。
《马格努森-史蒂文斯渔业保护和管理法案》要求美国渔业最大限度地减少捕捞对基本鱼类栖息地（EFH）的不利影响。缅因州湾（GoM）美国龙虾（Homarus americanus）渔业是美国最有价值的渔业，每年可部署超过300万个陷阱。迄今为止，该渔业对底栖EFH的影响尚未得到定量处理。为了评估GoM龙虾捕捞对EFH的影响，我们将龙虾捕捞努力纳入了一个模型，该模型将栖息地的易感性和恢复性与受渔具影响的区域联系起来：扫掠区海床影响模型。对EFH的影响主要集中在沿海地区和缅因州中部沿海地区。底栖动物中有13％以上正在恢复中，但最初受影响的栖息地中有99.92％至99.96％之间已完全恢复。这些估计表明，由于捕捞面积扩大和每个诱集装置的占地面积小，龙虾捕捞对GoM中EFH积累的贡献微不足道。确定持续影响的领域对于为重要的海洋生境发展有效的渔业管理至关重要。