ENHS Nature Trails May 2001 Article 4

Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
by Reida Kimmel

In Massachusetts, Boston Bay is nestled between two large capes. The more famous, Cape Cod, lies to the south and Cape Anne to the north. Between these capes and stretching into the Atlantic to the east and slightly to the north lies Stellwagen Bank. For more then four centuries, fishermen from Europe and New England have harvested the superabundant stocks of cod that inhabited the waters of this bank and others to the east off the coasts of Maine and Canada. But no more. The cod are nearly gone. Years of decline both in numbers and size of fish have made cod fishing uneconomical. Despite restrictions intended to increase stocks, in the past few years only populations of hake, a smaller and less desirable cod species have rebounded.

In case, like me, you have wondered what a "bank" really is, it is a shallow shelf of sand and gravel located sixty to one hundred twenty feet below the sea surface. Researchers at the Stellwagen Bank use recently developed multibeam side scanner technology to "see" the sea floor. Surprisingly, much of its topography was shaped by glacial action. As the glaciers of the last ice age moved into the sea, the rock debris they carried sculpted the surface and deposited loads of sediment. Today storm currents and waves erode the bank surface and carry sediments into the basins around the edges of the bank. Stellwagen basin is two hundred forty to three hundred feet deep and lies between Boston and Stellwagen Bank. There are even deeper waters in the northeastern part of the sanctuary, over 400 feet deep. Sonar imaging shows deep gouge marks caused by icebergs that grounded in the muddy sand, perhaps twelve thousand years ago.

The ponderously named Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary was designated in 1992. National marine sanctuaries are not national parks. The designation of the sanctuary did not mean that it would be closed to fishing. Commercial fishing continued in the sanctuary for four years under scrutiny by government and academic researchers. The sanctuary is now closed to fishing as part of the 1996 groundfish closure of the entire Gulf of Maine for five years. Today conservation research in the sanctuary focuses on examining the past effects of fishing gear on different habitat types and on the recovery rates of fish stocks within the sanctuary. Modern methods for harvesting bottom dwelling fish use trawling techniques that wreck havoc with the fragile sea beds. Currents carry pollutants which can accumulate heavily in some areas. For example, this summer Boston , to the distress of its Cape Cod neighbors, completed a pipeline which would carry its treated wastes out to sea beyond Boston Harbor. How will this affect Stellwagen Bank?

Although work at Stellwagen Bank focuses on habitat protection and biodiversity, it is also an important educational resource. Each summer teachers and students, largely from New England middle and high schools, do meaningful research projects at sea, exploring the various properties, acoustical, chemical and microbial of the waters, as well as studying species and their habitats.. The sanctuary also publishes a newsletter and species "spotting list" for travelers interested in visiting this marine wilderness so close to one of the most populous areas of the nation. From a boat, a lucky person could hope to see whales. [Six species visit the area.] Over forty bird species are summer visitors to the waters of Stellwagen Bank. If you would like to find out more about the research going on at the sanctuary, or obtain information about wildlife viewing, you can visit the web site
http://wwwsbnms.nos.noaa.gov

I would be happy to share my copy of the recent newsletter.

Reida Kimmel

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