Survey for South of the Vineyard Fishermen

Do you fish the southern New England waters on the map above? Please take this brief online survey to help researchers gauge how much fishing effort occurs within the wind energy lease areas.

Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SFW3TDN

Project Synopsis:

The offshore waters off southern New England have long supported populations of highly migratory species (HMS), including tunas, billfish, and sharks, and extensive recreational fisheries that target them. With the recent prospect of wind energy development in southern New England, there is great interest in addressing the potential impact of offshore wind energy on fish species and the local fisheries that target them. However, although offshore wind developers and the NOAA Bureau of Ocean Energy Management are aware that recreational fishing for HMS occurs in these areas, there are very little scientific data available to document the nature or extent of past and current fishing effort. To address this knowledge gap, the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium is seeking input from recreational fishermen document their HMS recreational fishing effort in and around the southern New England wind energy lease areas over the past 5 years. Using this valuable input, we will be able to better understand how recreational fishing for HMS may be impacted by offshore wind development and begin to investigate mechanisms to mitigate any adverse impacts.

For more information on the project or to become involved, please contact Jeff Kneebone (jkneebone@neaq.org).