Fishing with Captain Monty (and Planning for the Mid-Atlantic’s Future)

 

Our team at Ocean Conservancy is twenty-five nautical miles off the coast when Captain Monty Hawkins anchors the Morning Sun and we drop our fishing lines. We are lucky enough to be fishing for sea bass, easily one of the tastiest fish in the mid-Atlantic. Captain Monty specializes in precision fishing of natural, shipwreck and artificial reefs off the coast of Maryland. Once we get a primer from him on the ins and outs of catch limits and size requirements, we are off and fishing.

It is easy to see the lure of this magnificent body of water. Looking out onto the vast ocean, a sea turtle swims past the boat. On our way back to land, we are accompanied by dolphins and watch in awe as they surface in splashing trails nearby. What isn’t visible to the naked eye is that these ocean waters are a major economic driver for the region, sustaining a robust seafood industry, recreational fishing and tourism activities. The economic success of the region relies heavily on the ecological health of its ocean and coast, along with responsible planning for uses like commercial and recreational fishing, offshore energy, and more.

Unlike projects on land, the ocean is managed on a sector-by-sector basis and by a myriad of government agencies, often with little communication among them. This hurts both Ocean Conservancy’s and ocean industries’ ability to manage ocean use on a science-based and sustainable basis. Current and emerging ocean businesses often go through time-consuming, expensive and frustrating permitting processes by multiple levels of government. Without better data, coordination, and smart planning for sustainable use, growing ocean development can lead to conflicts and confusion. These issues threaten the food, jobs and recreation we rely on from our ocean.

The day before our fishing excursion, members of the public representing an array of ocean users gathered in Ocean City Maryland to address this exact issue. State, federal and tribal government representatives from the mid-Atlantic are leading a “Regional Planning Body” (RPB) that has begun to develop the region’s first smart ocean plan. Public stakeholders joined the meeting in Ocean City to discuss with RPB members their input on what that ocean plan will look like. Voices ranged from commercial fishermen, local surfers, charter-boat operators, and offshore wind developers who all gathered for a sit down discussion with the RPB members. Captain Monty was there too, talking about the value of the reefs we fished to the charter fishing industry and the need for data on reefs and fisheries to be reflected in the ocean plan.

Established in April, 2013 the Mid-Atlantic RPB has its eyes set on implementing an ocean plan by 2016. It is tasked with developing, along with stakeholder and public input, a plan with all the necessary data and information to support informed decision-making on ocean uses, and to help coordinate growing offshore usage while balancing and sustaining the ocean’s ecological health.

Whether or not there really are plenty of fish in the sea is up for debate, and as anyone who has fished will tell you, it depends on where you’re fishing. One thing is for certain however; there are plenty of ocean users competing for a finite set of resources, and their voices are hard to hear unless they are seated at the table together. Regional ocean planning provides a venue and a “common table” for this important dialogue between a wide array of ocean users and managers. We are excited about the opportunities for smarter and more sustainable decision-making that this process provides, and hope that with the help of a regional ocean plan, Captain Monty and we will be hauling up fish from the mid-Atlantic waters for decades to come.

For more information on upcoming opportunities for stakeholder participation please visit the following regional sites:

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