Quote:
Originally Posted by shresearchdude
"This is what I took as most important from the Rutgers report:
... concluded that seismic surveys could cause temporary, localized reduced fish catch to some species, but that effects on commercial and recreation fisheries were not significant. Most commercial fish catches by weight (almost all menhaden) and most recreational fishing trips off the coast of New Jersey (87% in 2013) occurred in waters within 5.6 km from shore, although the highest-value fish (e.g., flounder and tuna) were caught farther offshore. The closest distance between the proposed survey and shore is >30 km, so interactions between the proposed survey and recreational and some commercial fisheries would be relatively limited.
(a) Location of the Activity
The proposed 3-D box/survey area is located in the Atlantic Ocean, ~33–92 km off the coast of New Jersey and 27–87 km from New Jersey state waters
(Fig. 1). This area is defined by the coordinates at the four corners (including turns and run-in and run-out of each line) in degrees and decimal minutes:
39°38.00’N, 73°44.36’W; 39°43.12’N, 73°41.00’W; 39°25.30’N, 73°06.12’W; and 39°20.06’N, 73°10.06’W.
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So, the proposed seismic airgun testing would occur from 18-50 nautical miles offshore of a large section of the NJ coast. This is a large area frequented by marine mammals and many species of fish during the summer months. Previous research has already concluded that these activities could be damaging to marine mammals (which is why they needed an IHA from NOAA) and can disrupt fisheries. In fact, seismic airgun testing caused a dramatic drop in tuna catches off Namibia. I think it is entirely possible it will affect the behavior of pelagics and other species of fish.
From the Rutgers report:
"Most commercial fish catches by weight (almost all menhaden) and most recreational fishing trips off the coast of New Jersey (87% in 2013) occurred in waters within 5.6 km from shore, although the highest-value fish (e.g., flounder and tuna) were caught farther offshore. The closest distance between the proposed survey and shore is >30 km, so interactions between the proposed survey and recreational and some commercial fisheries would be relatively limited."
To claim that operating from 17-50 miles off the coast would result in limited interactions with recreational and commercial fisheries is so inaccurate it is ludicrous. Pelagic, bottom fishing and even bluefishing regularly occurs within this area throughout the summer. This is a further indicator of the inaccuracies in the data on recreational fishing activity, not to mention they claim flounder were more frequently caught further offshore than 3 miles.
There is no justification to allow a seismic study that has the potential to harm marine mammals and disrupt fisheries during the height of the season. This is completely ridiculous.
