WATERFRONT LAND USE CHANGE, MARINE RESOURCE CONDITIONS & REGULATION: NEW BEDFORD PILOT STUDY

Dr. Michelle E. Portman

Marine Policy Center

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Crowell House

Mail Stop #41

Woods Hole, MA 02543

Abstract: Since the implementation of the interim New England Multispecies Fishery Management Plan in 1982, there has been a dramatic increase in regulatory activity (e.g., area closures and limits on days at sea). Industry participants usually perceive these regulations as imposing additional costs, and they seek to adjust to each new set of regulations in order to lessen their financial impact. In many cases, industry adjustments require relocating business operations and switching to other stocks or species. Geographic shifts in harvesting capacity may have implications for the location of associated industries that supply the harvesting sector as well as those in the processing, distribution, and other downstream sectors, leading to broader societal impacts.

Federal laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996, require that conservation and management measures take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities, with the goals of providing for the sustained participation of those communities and minimizing adverse economic impacts. One of the challenges in gauging the long-term and cumulative impacts of management regulations on coastal fishing communities is the lack of clear understanding of the interactions between changes in fish stocks and waterfront land uses. The main objective of the proposed research is to examine changes in waterfront land uses in Massachusetts fishing communities using parcel level data and GIS tools. In this study we examine relevant industry employment and fishery stock data from the last two decades and relate these to shifts in land uses. Results of this analysis will provide a high resolution depiction of relevant interactions in representative fishing communities. This is crucial information for agencies charged with decision-making regarding coastal land-use planning and the protection of fisheries infrastructure.

The first stage of the research involves the building of a database that tracks coastal properties over the last 20 years in the pilot area of New Bedford-Fairhaven Harbor (Massachusetts). We then analyze waterfront land uses using GIS. The main sources of data are municipal assessors’ records and licenses issued by the Massachusetts Waterways Regulation Program, a state-level regulatory program that aims to preserve water-dependent uses on and public access to, coastal properties. Other sources of land use information are master plans and harbor planning documents, surveys, state business records (e.g., the registry of corporations) and local key informants. Data on fisheries stocks, landings and industry data are from the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and other government agencies (e.g., the U.S. Census Bureau). Initial findings show little land use change over the study period and little correlation between industry and stock data and changes in land uses within the study area. For the next steps, we will expand the study both geographically and temporally and further test models.