Rationale: American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) juveniles, adults, and spawning adults are concentrated in the GOM, where they occupy a variety of habitat types with substrates of gravel or fine-grained sediments including sand. Plaice avoid rocky and hard-bottom areas and prefer fine, sticky but gritty sand mixtures and mud, as well as oozy mud in deep basins (Klein-MacPhee 2002d). Plaice have been caught a considerable distance off the bottom, and move off the bottom at night (Klein-MacPhee 2002d). They feed primarily on epibenthic invertebrates (mostly echinoderms and amphipods), so there is a potential that prey resources may be adversely affected by otter trawls and scallop dredges, particularly in areas of lower energy and expected slower habitat recovery. EFH vulnerability to these gears was rated as high for adults and moderate for juveniles primarily because spawning occurs on the bottom. Since hydraulic clam dredges do not typically operate in the GOM, vulnerability for this gear was rated as none.

a EFH Geographic Areas: GOM = Gulf of Maine; GB = Georges Bank; and SNE = Southern New England.
b EFH Vulnerability Category (derived from the matrix analysis in Table 6.1): NA = not applicable; 0 = no vulnerability; L = low vulnerability; M = moderate vulnerability; and H = high vulnerability.

To Table 6.3