The Gulf of Maine, bounded on its seaward edge by Browns and Georges banks, is comprised of a rocky inner shelf, offshore ledges and deep muddy basins. These diverse habitats are nourished by a giant counter-clockwise ocean gyre, first described by Henry Bigelow almost a century ago. The eastern half of the Gulf of Maine is nourished by the upwelling Eastern Maine Coastal Current that circles around Jordan Basin, while the western gulf is fed by the large rivers that drive a coastal current. And finally, Georges Bank has its own distinct currents that cycle nutrients (and larvae) around this legendarily productive fishing ground.
Marine ecosystem science in America was born on the edges of these waters, but the complexity of this sea within a sea has defied efforts to manage its fisheries as part of an interconnected ecosystem. But that is about to change.
NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass., has launched an ambitious plan to shift fisheries management in the region from a focus on individual species (or species complexes) to a place-based approach that addresses harvesting of all federally managed species within a designated area along with other impacts on fish stocks, such as pollution and habitat loss.
Read the complete story from The Working Waterfront.