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1996-2001 Action Plan
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Introduction
The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, in collaboration
with public and private entities around the Gulf of Maine, has charted
a course for the protection and conservation of coastal and marine habitats
in the Gulf of Maine. The Governors of Maine, Massachusetts, and New
Hampshire; the Premiers of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; and six federal
agencies with mandates in the marine environment (Environment Canada;
the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) have
agreed that this plan will help to guide state, provincial, and federal
policy and budgeting decisions affecting the Gulf's coastal and marine
environments.
The actions outlined in this plan are the product of five years of
collaborative work by researchers and scientists; environmental groups;
educators; state, provincial, and federal government agencies; and individuals
in Canada and the United States-particularly in Maine, Massachusetts,
New Brunswick, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia. This multi-jurisdictional
collaboration on behalf of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem has been underway
since the establishment of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment
by the region's governors and premiers in 1989. (See Appendix II for
a description of the history of the Council, its membership, organizational
structure, and general operating procedures.)
This Action Plan is a sequel. The first Gulf of Maine Action Plan,
adopted by the Council in 199 1, defined priorities, objectives, and
a timetable for cooperative work by member jurisdictions ten years into
the future. Major objectives in that plan involved Monitoring and Research,
Coastal and Marine Pollution, Protection of Public Health, Habitat Protection,
and Public Education and Participation. The first plan functioned as
a blueprint with which to coordinate research, resource management,
and conservation education in the region by emphasizing a common, Gulf-wide
focus.
The first Action Plan also mandated that the Council review its progress
after five years and identify any adjustments that were needed to reflect
changing environmental and economic trends in the bioregion. The results
of that review are summarized in the Council's publication Work
In Progress: Five-Year Report of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine
Environment, 1990-1995.
Building Partnerships to Set Priorities
The genesis of this Action Plan began with the second Sustaining Our
Common Heritage Conference, convened by the Gulf of Maine Council in
Wolfville, Nova Scotia in July, 1994. The conference was conducted with
the explicit purpose of gaining perspective and advice from the bioregion's
non-governmental environmental organizations and individuals regarding
the Council's work over the previous several years and to identify priorities
for the next five years. More than 150 organizations and individuals
were present, representing each of the Gulf of Maine watershed's state
and provincial jurisdictions, in addition to representatives from related
federal agencies and national conservation groups.
Results from the Wolfville Conference were then augmented by a survey
of 300 organizations and individuals in the region and a 1995 synthesis
of recommendations from the more than thirty scientific and professional
workshops that the Gulf of Maine Council either sponsored or co-sponsored
during the preceding four years. The Council's evaluation process culminated
in a two-day retreat to review results and recommendations and to develop
plans for the Council's work in the future.
The major outcome of this evaluation process was a decision to focus
the Council's program activities on Gulf of Maine coastal and marine
habitats for the next five years. Given the realm of statutory responsibilities
of Gulf of Maine Council members in their respective jurisdictions,
and drawing upon the expertise of the Council's Committees, Working
Group, federal and regional partners, and related organizations and
agencies within the region, the Gulf of Maine Council identified five
major goals for its new coastal and marine habitat focus:
- Protect and Restore Regionally Significant Coastal Habitats
- Restore Shellfish Habitats
- Protect Human Health and Ecosystem Integrity from Toxic Contaminants
in Marine Habitats
- Reduce Marine Debris
- Protect and Restore Fishery Habitats and Resources
Working in Partnership for the Future
The goals and objectives that have been developed within these priority
habitat focus areas are bold and ambitious. The Gulf of Maine Council
believes that achieving these goals depends in great part upon the synergy
that occurs when public and private organizations and individuals work
together for a common purpose. The diversity of these organizations
and individuals, and their expertise and commitment to the Gulf of Maine
environment, is at once incredible and encouraging.
The Gulf of Maine Council is committed to building meaningful and lasting
partnerships in the years ahead, and has explicitly included examples
of potential partners in the Action Plan for each habitat focus area.
These examples represent just a few of the many possibilities for collaboration
among agencies, organizations, educators, researchers, communities,
and citizens in the Gulf of Maine region.
Addressing the Gulf's Ecosystem Priorities
Implicit in this Action Plan, and the original that preceded it, is
the recognition by the states and provinces bordering the Gulf that
continued health of this marine ecosystem is a shared, transboundary
responsibility. The Gulf is a complex network of estuaries and other
marine habitats, ocean currents, interrelated nutrient and energy cycles,
and natural communities that, throughout history, have comprised one
of the world's most biologically productive bodies of water.
Management and protection of this dynamic ecosystem and its coastal
and marine habitats requires partnerships and a level of collaboration
among researchers, policy makers, and resource managers that reaches
across political boundaries.
As in the past five years, this Action Plan maintains a focus on transboundary
objectives, rather than addressing individual state, provincial, or
local community issues. The site-specific strategies and actions described
in this Plan are either pilot, demonstration, or education projects,
yielding experiences and information that will be transferred to other
jurisdictions around the Gulf, or are part of a cumulative pattern of
on-the-ground protection and restoration that directly contributes toward
measurable, Gulf-wide goals.
Besides this emphasis on transboundary issues and partnerships, several
other important operating criteria have guided the Gulf of Maine Council
in developing the plan:
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Strategies for implementing measurable objectives within each major
habitat goal are designed to yield both direct, achievable short-term
results and long-term benefits.
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Results of actions are expected to be specific and measurable.
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Actions to be taken are built upon existing programs in order to
strengthen partnerships with other groups working within the region.
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Strategies and specific actions are intended to provide information
that can be made available to the public and used to promote an awareness
of jurisdictional interdependence.
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Actions in the plan contribute toward a positive public identity
and sense of stewardship for the Gulf of Maine and include potential
for community involvement.
Setting Measurable Goals
This Action Plan is not a static document, rather it is designed to
be responsive to evolving needs and changing priorities within the framework
of the Council's five major habitat goals. Implementation of the Action
Plan over the next several years will produce new ideas and possibilities
for achieving the objectives of coastal and marine habitat protection
and sustainability. Thus, each section is viewed as a flexible framework
that can be fine-tuned or reassembled as conditions in the ecosystem
change and management priorities within jurisdictions are adjusted to
reflect those changes.
Each year, in consultation with the Working Group and the Committees
on Public Education and Participation, Monitoring, and Data and Information
Management, the Gulf of Maine Council will review progress in each habitat
area and refine the next year's work plan as needed to maintain measurable
progress toward each goal.
The Action Plan is arranged by major habitat goals, and follows a sequence
beginning with a description of each major goal; the reasons for the
Council's focus on the particular goal and information about its importance
to the Gulf of Maine ecosystem; the Council's role in relation to that
goal; and the measurable objectives that have been selected in order
to achieve the goal.This is followed by a more detailed examination
of each objective, including specific strategies for accomplishing objectives
and a series of actions within each strategy.
The Gulf of Maine Council welcomes comments on this Action Plan. Council
members are committed to ensuring that this document will remain up-to-date
and serve as a dynamic road map for transboundary collaboration in protecting
the diversity of living resources in the marine ecosystem of the Gulf
of Maine. For additional information, contact the Gulf of Maine Program
Secretariat (Appendix III) and learn how you can become part of the
Action Plan in the years ahead.
Download the complete report (200 Kb PDF file).
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