[njdiver]

Are you aware that the Gateway National Park Area has been nominated for MPA status with permanent year round restrictions on both Commercial and Recreational fishing?

Public comment is open till February 22, 2010.

Here is the announcement and details:

http://mpa.gov/pdf/national-system/federal_register_notice_jan710.pdf


Here is the document listing sites and more details:

http://mpa.gov/pdf/national-system/nominated_sites_jan_2010.pdf

go to page 11 for Sandy Hook details.

 

[Aquajoe]

Some info on Marine Protected Areas: http://mpa.gov/all_about_mpa/basics.html

It is not a bad thing.

 

[njdiver]

List of National System Marine Protected Areas - National Park Service Federal Sites

Site Name: Gateway National Recreation Area

Management Agency: National Park Service

Management Plan Type: Site-Specific Management Plan

MPA Category: Natural and Cultural Heritage Conservation Area


Primary Conservation Focus: Natural Heritage

Natural Heritage: MPAs or zones established and managed wholly or in part to sustain, conserve, restore, and understand the protected area’s natural biodiversity, populations, communities, habitats, and ecosystems; the ecological and physical processes upon which they depend; and, the ecological services, human uses and values they provide to this and future generations.

Examples: Natural Heritage MPAs include most national marine sanctuaries, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and many state MPAs.



Level of Protection: Zoned Multiple Use

Zoned Multiple-Use: MPAs that allow some extractive activities throughout the entire site, but that use marine zoning to allocate specific uses to compatible places or times in order to reduce user conflicts and adverse impacts.

Examples: Zoned multiple-use MPAs are increasingly common in U.S. waters, including some marine sanctuaries, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and state MPAs.



Permanence: Permanent

Permanent: MPAs or zones whose legal authorities provide some level of protection to the site in perpetuity for future generations, unless reversed by unanticipated future legislation or regulatory actions.

Examples: Permanent MPAs include most national marine sanctuaries and all national parks.



Protection Focus: Year-round

Year-Round: MPAs or zones that provide constant protection to the site throughout the year.

Examples: Year-round MPAs include all marine sanctuaries, national parks, refuges, monuments, and some fisheries sites.



Protection Focus: Ecosystem

Ecosystem: MPAs or zones whose legal authorities and management measures are intended to protect all of the components and processes of the ecosystem within its boundaries.

Examples: Ecosystem-scale MPAs include most marine sanctuaries, national parks and national monuments.



Fishing Restriction: Commercial and Recreational Fishing Restricted

Commercial Fishing Restricted : MPAs or zones place some type of restriction on commercial fishing, which might vary throughout the MPA according to different zones or areas. Recreational fishing may be unrestricted.

Example: Rotating MPAs, which are still rare in the U.S. They include some dynamic fisheries closures created for the purpose of serially recovering a suite of localized population to harvestable levels.

Recreational Fishing Restricted : MPAs or zones place some type of restriction on recreational fishing, which might vary throughout the MPA according to different zones or areas. Commercial fishing may be unrestricted.

Example: Seasonal MPAs, including some fisheries and endangered species closures around sensitive habitats.


http://mpa.gov/pdf/national-system/nominated_sites_jan_2010.pdf Page 11.

http://mpa.gov/pdf/helpful-resources/factsheets/final_class_system_1206.pdf

http://mpa.gov/pdf/helpful-resources/termdefinitions.pdf

 

[circlehook]

Some info on Marine Protected Areas: http://mpa.gov/all_about_mpa/basics.html

It is not a bad thing.

If govt. draws a circle around an area and says I cant fish there........its a bad thing. Draw that cirlce over a well known, historically accessible, fishing location such as Sandy Hook or the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and its a very very very bad thing. :nuts::thumbsdown:

 

[The Seeker]

It is potentially frightning stuff to consider complete fishing closure at Sandy Hook. I am more concerned about potentially closing Cape Hatteras. That is not what the CFR article says thought.

As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. The details are not in this article. It uses "maybe"s and closures for "endangered species". I can't recall ever fishing for endangered species at Sandy Hook.

So really it is fear of the unknown at the moment.

 

[philnam]

Does this mean if a fish bites my "worm" at nude beach, could I get arrested for fishing? Splain plees.

 

[circlehook]

the "unknown" is very much "known." all of these agendas are being pushed by the big environmental groups and their mission is clearly to end recreational fishing. Its been stated. Its evident in everything they do.

Time to wake up people. Absolutely no way to MPA's.

 

[njdiver]

Time to wake up people. Absolutely no way to MPA's.

You would be surprised at how many MPAs there already are here in NJ & NY.


http://mpa.gov/helpful_resources/inventoryfiles/njny_mpas_wallmap.pdf

Be patient, it's a BIG file.


Here is a nationwide map:

http://mpa.gov/images/helpful_resources/CharterSitesMap.gif

 

[njdiver]

Here are the regulations that cover Sandy Hook:


http://www.nps.gov/gate/parkmgmt/upload/Superintendent's Compendium 2009_complete.pdf


http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=05533366c8c06b29676056373677c5a3&rgn=div8&view=text&node=36:1.0.1.1.2.0.1.3&idno=36

 

[bdubbs]

more trouble great....chances are if they close the beaches to fishing they will probably close it to surfing thats huge b/c sandy hook is NJ's only true point break.

 

[SanibelFisher]

I am really struggling with this one. I do not want any public beach closed to fishing - I plan on dying with a fishing rod in my hands and will fish for as long as I wake up in the morning.

All MPA's are not bad, I say this from experience because one of my favorite places to fish on earth is a marine reserve right behind Sanibel and it is on that list that njdiver posted - The Sanibel Ding Darling reserve. It is a beautiful place with some of the best fishing on the planet as far as I am concerned. It is quiet, beautiful, pristine and is likely to stay that way forever.

The flip side of that is what they have been doing down in Hatteras on their beaches. That fiasco is being driven directly by the non fishing groups using the MPA law and the lack of action on the governmental side to close down huge sections of beaches to fishing, beach buggies and even walking.

The other MPA that we are all familiar with but have not affected me are the huge no take zones off California - they are more examples of where run away environmental groups won the legal battle to stop fishing in large chunks of oceans because the recreational guys did not know there was a battle raging until it was too late.

My point is that not all MPA's are bad - I would never support a no-take MPA but something that protected long stretches of beach from development so that I can fish and others can enjoy the beach should be fine with everyone. In the past the environmental groups got away with murder because no one was watching and they took advantage of our ignorance. That is much less likely to happen now. We must learn to use this awareness of who the real enemy is and protect our right to fish.

We are all conversationalists and we all want to protect our fishing resource so that our kids and grand kids can fish and take dinner home to our families. We just need to make certain that the laws are applied fairly and no one group has the ability to bend the laws and unfairly restrict our public resource.

Join the march on Washington, make certain the people making the rules know how you feel and the laws that are in place are applied fairly. We might not like having to fight for our right to fish but that is the reality we are all now faced with. We need to make certain the MPA and all other fisheries management tools are used correctly and not abused by the richer minority.

 

[Slopoke]

The idea of closing off the Sandy Hook area seems crazy just as is the idea of closing off the entrance to any harbor, major river with commercial and/or significant recreational traffic, or other area already experiencing large volume human use. Sandy Hook may be a national park, but its available as a park due to its military background. Otherwise it had no history as a particularly unspoiled wildlife sanctuary. I would suggest that no major harbor entrance is suitable for the type of sanctuary that closes off recreational fishing. What about Naval Weapons Station Earle immediately adjacent to Sandy Hook? MPA? Laughable.

 

[Slopoke]

A further comment. Looking at the map of protected areas furnished in the NJDIVER post above, it appears that state DEP folks have anything not privately owned along the coastline set up for protection of one kind or another. So how do they pick a place for Marine Protection as opposed to protecting birds, water, trees, air, snail darters etc? Seems like some leeway should exist to limit protections based on the locale and preexisting use. What's the procedure for objecting?

 

[njdiver]

The idea of closing off the Sandy Hook area seems crazy just as is the idea of closing off the entrance to any harbor, major river with commercial and/or significant recreational traffic, or other area already experiencing large volume human use. Sandy Hook may be a national park, but its available as a park due to its military background. Otherwise it had no history as a particularly unspoiled wildlife sanctuary. I would suggest that no major harbor entrance is suitable for the type of sanctuary that closes off recreational fishing. What about Naval Weapons Station Earle immediately adjacent to Sandy Hook? MPA? Laughable.

Please notice in my post http://www.thebassbarn.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2157896&postcount=3 they say "restricted" not prohibited.

 

[njdiver]

What's the procedure for objecting?

As each area comes up for nomination or when the State tries to create their own, as CA did, we must comment, attend hearings, converse with and write to our representatives.

"...eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty..." Andrew Jackson, Farewell Address, March 4, 1837

 

[SanibelFisher]

"...eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty..." Andrew Jackson, Farewell Address, March 4, 1837

I have found this to be a very, very true statement..............

I had to hit about 40 years old before it started to make sense to me....

 

[njdiver]

"The national system does not bring state, territorial or local sites under federal authority, nor does it restrict or change the management of any MPA."



http://mpa.gov/national_system/nominating_mpas.html

 

[njdiver]

For the moment, all that this is doing is adding the Gateway National Park Area to a list (inventory) of national MPAs. The "MPA" already exists. The restrictions that are in place now qualify the Park areas for inclusion in the national inventory. For now that is all this nomination does.

The review of the Management Plan is what may change the restrictions.

http://www.nps.gov/gate/parkmgmt/gmp.htm


"The national system does not bring state, territorial or local sites under federal authority, nor does it restrict or change the management of any MPA."

http://mpa.gov/national_system/nominating_mpas.html

 

[Retainer]

one more step closer to shuttin her down. Once the designation is in place, the war is lost

 

[njdiver]

one more step closer to shuttin her down. Once the designation is in place, the war is lost

Going from a national park to being added to a list of Marine Protected Areas does nothing more than justify the MPA Center's existance. Altering the existing restrictions on fishing within the boundries of the park during the review of their Management Plan is were we need to involve our attentions.