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Proposal to modify the northeast boundary of the Eel River EFH no-trawl area
Date: April 28, 2009 Applicant: Peter Leipzig
Executive Director Fishermen’s Marketing Association 1585 Heartwood Dr. Suite E McKinleyville, CA 95519
707-840-0182 [email protected]
Problem: At the time that the PFMC was adopting the specific EFH closures, there
were at least two sets of competing proposals for specific areas to be closed for trawling. One had been developed by the fishing industry with considerable input throughout the industry and another was developed by Oceana with input from other environmental organizations. There was a concerted effort by both parties to combine the two proposals the evening prior to the action taken by the Council.
One area that was that was contained within both these two sets of
proposals was a large area in the Eel River Canyon. The motion passed by the Council combined the two proposals. The western portion of the Industry proposal (attachment 1) was combined with the Eastern half of the area as proposed by Oceana (attachment 2). The Oceana proposal covered a broader area of the canyon and extended much further onshore into shallow water. This combination resulted in the adopted Eel River EFH no-trawl area (attachment 3).
This proposal is to move the eastern boundary of the Eel River EFH area to the west so that it conforms to the existing 75 fm RCA boundary (attachment 4). In this area being proposed to be changed, Oceana had identified an area as being untrawlable. This is not the case. There is a sunken barge in the area which can cause problems for research vessels, but local fishermen have fished this area without problems for many years.
Given the immense size of the entire EFH process, little attention was
given to the exact location of the boundaries of the proposed closure of the Eel River Canyon as proposed by Oceana. Further, there was no opportunity to respond to the blending of the two proposals as occurred in the motion.
The adopted closure cut off the tows by trawlers fishing on the beach on sandy bottom in shallow water.
Why warranted:
This slight modification of the Eel River closure would allows trawlers to once again tow for flatfish on the beach in shallow water over flat sandy bottom. The use of the existing RCA boundary would continue restrict trawling in the Eel River canyon, but would greatly minimize the enforcement of the boundary by eliminating multiple sets of closure boundaries. This modification would continue to provide protection to the Eel River Canyon while at the same time restoring the shallow water area to trawlers that have lost access to nearshore flatfish in the area because the closure. The closed area is located midway through existing tows. The remaining segments of the tows are too small to be accessed separately. The loss of this area has had negative economic impacts upon the small beach trawlers operating out of Eureka and restoring the area would not jeopardize the protections of the Eel River Canyon. Delaying action until the five year review is therefore not warranted.
Proposed Action:
Move eastern waypoints to conform to the 75 fms RCA boundary (attachment 5). The resulting coordinates for the Eel River EFH area would be as follows:
Original Boundary Proposed Boundary Point # Longitude Latitude Point # Longitude Latitude
1 40 38.270 N 124 27.160 W 1 40 38.750 N 124 29.214 W 2 40 35.600 N 124 28.750 W 2 40 37.500 N 124 28.680 W
3 40 35.806 N 124 29.214 W 3 40 37.520 N 124 33.410 W 4 40 37.520 N 124 33.410 W 4 40 37.470 N 124 40.460 W 5 40 37.470 N 124 40.460 W 5 40 35.470 N 124 42.970 W 6 40 35.470 N 124 42.970 W 6 40 32.780 N 124 44.790 W 7 40 32.780 N 124 44.790 W 7 40 24.320 N 124 39.970 W 8 40 24.320 N 124 39.970 W 8 40 23.260 N 124 42.450 W 9 40 23.260 N 124 42.450 W 9 40 27.340 N 124 51.210 W 10 40 27.340 N 124 51.210 W
10 40 32.680 N 125 5.630 W 11 40 32.680 N 125 5.630 W 11 40 49.120 N 124 47.410 W 12 40 49.120 N 124 47.410 W 12 40 44.320 N 124 46.480 W 13 40 44.320 N 124 46.480 W 13 40 40.750 N 124 47.510 W 14 40 40.750 N 124 47.510 W 14 40 40.650 N 124 46.020 W 15 40 40.650 N 124 46.020 W 15 40 39.690 N 124 33.360 W 16 40 39.690 N 124 33.360 W 16 40 38.270 N. 124 27.160 W. 17 40 38.750 N. 124 29.214 W.
Relevant and Applicable Information:
The area that would be opened to trawling is a sandy bottom habitat similar to the area further east as well as to the north and south. The area important for the trawling of English sole, Petrale sole, Dover sole, and other nearshore flatfish. There are roughly three trawlers fishing out of the port of Eureka that have been prevented from fishing in this area. These are smaller vessels common referred to as “beach boats”.
Discussion:
This area is the flat sandy bottom area above the Eel River Canyon. This is the area where flatfish that are undergoing their season migration from deeper water will travel to reach shallower areas on the continental shelf. This is an important area to fishermen fishing for nearshore flatfish. The habitat type is similar to most of the sandy bottom continental shelf; however, the closed area divides historic tow locations into halves. Each of these remaining portions are so small that the entire area north and south of the closed area has become economically inefficient to trawling. Opening the relative small closed area will allow a much larger area to once again be economical to be fished. This area is not known to be vulnerable to the effects of fishing and contains no unique, rare, or threatened habitat. Opening this area is will not have a huge impact upon the value of fisheries as a whole, but to the few fishermen that historically fished through this area, the economic benefit of the modification would be tremendous.
NOBELTECVisual Navigation Suite 7.1.900
Blunts
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Nobeltec software™ - Copyright © 1995-2005 Nobeltec Corporation (800-946-2877)DO NOT USE FOR NAVIGATIONSOME NAVIGATION AIDS MAY NOT BE SHOWN
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WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA. MEXICAN BORDER TO DIXON ENTRANCE. - 1 : 1,088,000(Passport World Charts - vector format) Chart #U501 - Depth Units: Fathoms
Oceana Attachment 1: Revised Alternative C.12 May 11, 2005
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Figure 37: Eel River Canyon
NOBELTECVisual Navigation Suite 7.1.900
Blunts
Reef
(1980)M
rky
M
rky
293372
342 126673 2651636 13291618
61385
279 168
1264 5931563
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72 37686 448
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1373369 75 39
582 21406
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525 85 251388
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740
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1493 5961443 77 16
152 62 45 291294
2043152
1120 4113931372 554 14
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FlR 2sFlR 2sFlR 2sFlR 2sFlR 2s
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016016
015015
014014013013
012012
011011
010010
009009
008008
007007
006006
005005
004004 003003
002002
001001
Nobeltec software™ - Copyright © 1995-2005 Nobeltec Corporation (800-946-2877)DO NOT USE FOR NAVIGATIONSOME NAVIGATION AIDS MAY NOT BE SHOWN
4/28/2009Page 1
WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA. MEXICAN BORDER TO DIXON ENTRANCE. - 1 : 1,088,000(Passport World Charts - vector format) Chart #U501 - Depth Units: Fathoms
NOBELTECVisual Navigation Suite 7.1.900
(1980)
85 25
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114
288
79
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9999
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Nobeltec software™ - Copyright © 1995-2005 Nobeltec Corporation (800-946-2877)DO NOT USE FOR NAVIGATIONSOME NAVIGATION AIDS MAY NOT BE SHOWN
4/28/2009Page 1
U.S. - WEST COAST. CALIFORNIA - OREGON. MONTEREY BAY TO COOS BAY. - 1 : 272,000(Passport World Charts - vector format) Chart #U18010 - Depth Units: Fathoms
NOBELTECVisual Navigation Suite 7.1.900
(1980)
85 25
438
33
114
288
79
32 22
16
N
016016
015015
003003
003003 002002
002002
001001
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Nobeltec software™ - Copyright © 1995-2005 Nobeltec Corporation (800-946-2877)DO NOT USE FOR NAVIGATIONSOME NAVIGATION AIDS MAY NOT BE SHOWN
4/28/2009Page 1
U.S. - WEST COAST. CALIFORNIA - OREGON. MONTEREY BAY TO COOS BAY. - 1 : 272,000(Passport World Charts - vector format) Chart #U18010 - Depth Units: Fathoms