Gulf of Maine Council sets new action plan

The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment Action Plan 2007-2012 focuses on three ambitious goals identified by the people living and working around the Gulf of Maine. The goals are: protecting and restoring habitats, focusing on environmental and human health, and supporting vibrant coastal communities. The governors and premiers of the five states and provinces that border the Gulf of Maine - Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia - established the council in 1989 as a regional entity with a mission to maintain and enhance environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine and to allow for sustainable resource use by existing and future generations.

The new five-year plan incorporates public input and findings of studies, workshops and key policy developments, including the Gulf of Maine Summit, Canada's Oceans Action Plan and the U.S. Ocean Action Plan. The new plan also builds on the results of the previous five-year plan and activities under two earlier action plans in the late 1990s.

The council established short-, mid-, and long-termoutcomes toward the three goals, along with activities to accomplish the outcomes.

Goal 1: Protect and restore habitats:

Coastal and marine habitats are in a healthy, productive and resilient condition.

This goal focuses on four interrelated areas that affect the health of the Gulf of Maine, its watershed and the marine economic sector.

1) Invasive species. Non-native plants and animals pose a major threat to the ecosystem and economic uses of the gulf. Every two years the council and its partners develop a work plan that includes assessing risks posed by invasive species in the Gulf of Maine, setting priorities and supporting efforts to minimize and/or prevent harmful marine invasions, and increasing the understanding of lawmakers and commercial and recreational users of the Gulf of Maine about the threat posed by marine invasive species and options for reducing the problems.

2) Land-based activities. Human activities on land can lead directly or indirectly to degradation of the Gulf of Maine. Again, the council and its partners every two years develop a work plan with activities and timeframes to disseminate materials that increase awareness about the effects of land-based activities on the coastal environment, give coastal lawmakers and municipal governments a greater understanding of how to minimize adverse effects of land-based activities on the coastal environment, and help watershed residents and businesses understand how to minimize the effect of their land-use decisions on the coastal environment.

3) Habitat restoration. Habitats damaged by past human uses can be restored so they contribute to a properly functioning ecosystem. The council focuses its efforts on regionally significant coastal habitats that support priority, gulf-wide plant and animal species and that meet certain ecological and social criteria. Every two years, the council and its partners develop a plan to disseminate information on the need for coastal habitat restoration, fund restoration activities, create tools that managers need to accelerate habitat restoration, help non-profit and other organizations better understand the need to restore and monitor regionally significant coastal habitats, get communities involved in restoration, and implement regional restoration monitoring standards.

4) Marine habitat conservation. Developing and applying integrated, holistic approaches to management and policy is essential. Again every two years, the council and its partners endeavor to communicate how ecosystem-based management can be accelerated in the Gulf of Maine, develop ecosystem-based tools that managers need, help build integrated approaches to management, encourage managers and regulators to implement effective marine management initiatives and programs, and educate watershed residents about increased stewardship of the marine environment.

Goal 2: Protect environmental and human health:

Environmental conditions in the Gulf of Maine support ecosystem and human health.

This goal focuses on preventing and reducing water pollution. Many pollutants enter the Gulf of Maine and its watershed from licensed or permitted point-source discharges, non-point sources, and atmospheric deposition. Individually and cumulatively, these sources affect the ecosystem and in some cases limit human use of the gulf's resources.

Regional collaboration is needed to strengthen the laws and programs that limit the release of important pollutants such as mercury, sewage and excess nutrients. People living throughout the watershed have an important and lasting impact on the Gulf of Maine. Increasing the awareness of adults living in the watershed about the effect of their lifestyle choices on the marine environment is an important first step.

Every two years, the council and its partners develop a work plan with specific activities, timeframes, budgets, deliverables, performance measures, and funding sources toward this goal including conducting contaminant and habitat monitoring, providing information about priority contaminants and how lifestyle choices affect the condition of the marine environment, responding to managers' needs for state-of-the-environment reporting and ecosystem indicators, and increasing knowledge of coastal lawmakers and adults living in coastal communities about how lifestyle choices affect the condition of the marine environment.

Goal 3: Support vibrant communities:

Gulf of Maine coastal communities are vibrant and have marine-dependent industries that are healthy and globally competitive.

This goal addresses several aspects of the economic well-being of towns and cities along the coast of the Gulf of Maine. The council views the leaders of marine-dependent industries as key decision-makers in ensuring a healthy and productive Gulf of Maine. The council believes that the value of natural capital needs to be incorporated into provincial and state statutes, policies, and programs. Marine-dependent industries, particularly sustainable tourism, finfish aquaculture, and commercial bivalve shellfish harvesting, need to continually innovate to remain competitive and support vibrant coastal communities. Working waterfronts are essential to marine-dependent industries and often define the character of coastal communities. Increasing the use of alternate energy sources is critical for economic growth, energy stability, and environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine region.

The council and its partners every two years develop a work plan that includes strengthening marine-dependent industry participation in council tasks, promoting communication about methodologies and case studies for ecosystem-based management initiatives, collaborating with local partners to ensure that working waterfronts remain viable, and increasing public awareness about alternative energy sources and fuels.

More detailed information about the new plan is available at http://www.gulfofmaine.org.

© 2007 The Gulf of Maine Times