APPENDIX E

Questions for the Workshop Panel

I. Introductory Questions. (Habitat Overview)

1. What types of habitat are found in the Northeast region?

2. What are the characteristics of the habitats in the Northeast region and how do these differ in the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, Southern New England shelf, and Mid-Atlantic Bight?

II. Questions on Fishing Gear Types.

The categories of fishing gears used for the workshop include the following:

Bottom-Tending Static Fishing Gears -- Pots and Traps

Bottom-Tending Mobile Fishing Gears -- Clam Dredges (hydraulic and non-hydraulic)

Bottom-Tending Static Fishing Gears - Gill Nets, Long Lines, Hooks

Bottom-Tending Mobile Fishing Gears -- Sea Scallop Dredges

Bottom-Tending Mobile Fishing Gears -- Otter Trawls

Bottom-Tending Mobile Fishing Gears -- Beam Trawls

Pelagic Fishing Gears (Static and Mobile)

The Workshop Panel is asked to answer specific questions about the effects of different fishing gears and the applicability of available information to the Northeast Region. The following set of questions apply to each of the above categories of fishing gear used in the Northeast Region.

1. What fishing gears in this category are used in the Northeast?

2. How are fishing gears in this category used in the Northeast?

3. What, if any, components or elements of fishing gears in this category come in contact or interact with the sea floor?

4. What are the direct effects of fishing gears in this category on different habitats?

5. What are the principal indirect biological effects of gear induced habitat alterations on exploited resource populations?

6. What effects of fishing gears in this category are most significant?

7. Which habitats are most or least vulnerable to effects of fishing with fishing gears in this category?

8. How do we judge the temporal scale of the effects of fishing gears in this category on different habitats?

9. What studies or elements of studies of the effects of fishing gears in this category are applicable to the Northeast? Why?

10. What studies or elements of studies of the effects of fishing gears in this category are not applicable to the Northeast? Why not?

11. How strong is the evidence for the potential effects of fishing gears in this category on different habitats in the Northeast?

12. What are the most important overall potential effects of fishing gears in this category in the Northeast?

13. What types of management actions would be most effective to mitigate the potential adverse effects of fishing gears in this category in the Northeast?

14. Would any changes to fishing practices with fishing gears in this category reduce their interaction with or contact with the bottom, or in some other way reduce the impacts to habitat associated with fishing gears in this category?

15. Are there any design modifications that could be made to fishing gears in this category that would reduce their interaction with or contact with the bottom, or in some other way reduce the impacts to habitat associated with fishing gears in this category?

In addition, the following questions apply to the pelagic categories of fishing gear:

16. Relative to impacts from other gear types on sea floor habitats, how important are potential impacts from pelagic gears to the water column?

17. Would there be more or less concern over the potential effects of pelagic fishing gears if they were used in contact with the bottom, either intentionally or accidentally?