The Maine Dept. of Marine Resources and the University of Maine Pelagic Fisheries Lab run by Dr. Walt Golet are working on a study to quantify the potential overlap between the commercial Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery and proposed offshore wind areas in the Gulf of Maine.
At this time, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has finalized 5 lease areas in the Gulf of Maine for offshore wind. While many of the US East Coast offshore wind projects are paused, under review, or in some cases postponed indefinitely, the future of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine remains unknown at this time. This actually creates an opportunity to establish important baseline data in support of the US bluefin tuna fishery should development ever continue and things like mitigation measures be needed.
We plan to incorporate historical spotter pilot and purse seine logbook data, personal fishing records from commercial permit holders in the general and harpoon categories, and electronic tagging information (PSAT tags). However, we would also like to gather self-reported data from the fishery. Our hope is that we may provide a comprehensive analysis to establish a baseline for understanding regional spatial dynamics that can provide insights for the future.
Why should we do this? When BOEM asked for the bluefin data before, there was NONE to give. This is the opportunity to fill in those data gaps. If you are a permitted commercial bluefin tuna fisherman who has previously or is currently fishing in the Gulf of Maine for bluefin, we ask that you please take 5 minutes to fill out this anonymous survey, which will be open until July 31st, 23:59 EST.
Each permit holder may only take this survey once.
Take the Survey
