Sustaining Resources in the Gulf of Maine: Toward Regional Management Actions
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CCE CEC SUSTAINING RESOURCES IN THE GULF OF MAINE: TOWARD REGIONAL MANAGEMENT ACTIONS I A Regional- Pilot Project to Implement the Global I Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities 1 SUSTAINING RESOURCES IN THE GULF OF MAINE: I TOWARD REGIONAL MANAGEMENT ACTIONS WORKING PAPER Prepared for: Commission for Environmental Cooperation Montreal, Quebec, Canada Prepared by: Judith Pederson MIT Sea Grant Program Boston, Massachusetts and David VanderZwaag Marine and Environmental Law Programme Dalhousie Law School i Associate, Oceans Institute of Canada Halifax, Nova Scotia :I ! January 1997 ACRONYMSAND ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................................ 3 1.0 INTRODUCTION: THE GLOBALPROGRAMME OF ACTION(GPA) AND THE GULFOF MAINE PILOT PROJECT............................................................................................................... 9 3.0 THEGULF OF MAINE: AN OVERVIEWOF THE REGION................................................. 18 4.0 LAND-BASED POLLUTIONAND PHYSICALALTERATIONS IN THE GULFOF MAINEREGION . 22 4.1 Contaminants in the Gulf of Maine Region ............................................................................................22 Sewage and Nutrients 25 Toxic Contaminant 28 4.2 Alterations and Destruction of Habitat ...................................................................................................34 4.3 Marine Debris ..........................................................................................................................................35 5.0 EXISTINGREGIONAL INITIATIVES RELEVANTTO LAND-BASEDACTIVITIES IN THE GULFOF MAINE ............................................................................................................................. 36 Joint Canada-United States Marine Pollution Contingency Plan for Spills of Oil and Other Noxious Substances ......................................................................................................................................................36 Gulf of Maine Agreement and Action Plan .................................................................................................. 36 Regional Research Cooperation .................................................................................................................... 41 Regional Association for Research on the Gulf of Maine (RARGOM) .........................................................41 Regional Marine Research Program (RMRP) ..............................................................................................42 East Coast of North America Strategic Assessment Project (ECNASAP)..................................................... 42 6.0 US AND CANADIANAPPROACHES TO MANAGINGLAND-BASED POLLUTION/ACTIVITIES ... 44 6.1 General Approaches to Managing Land-based PoIlntion/Activities ...................................................... 44 6.1.1 Integrated Coastal Area Management................................................................................................. 44 6.1.2 The Precautionaq Approach ..............................................................................................................47 6.2 Management Approaches for Specific Source Contaminants ............................................................. 50 Sewage and Nutrients .................................................................................................................................5 1 Toxic Contaminant 53 Litter 58 6.3 Physical Alterations and Habitat Destruction ........................................................................................ 60 7.0 GULFOF MAINEREGIONAL OBJECTNES AND ACTIONS IN LIGHTOF THE GLOBAL PROGRAMMEOF ACTION:AN INITIALASSESSMENT ............................................................ 64 8.0 WORKSHOPSUMMARY REPORT ................................................................................. 68 Working Group I Summary Report.............................................................................................................. 70 Working Group I1 Summary Report ............................................................................................................75 APPENDIX1 - GULFOF MAINECOUNCIL PUBLICATIONS, WORKSHOP SUMMARIES, AND REPORTS*....................................................................................................................... 82 The Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) was developed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assist national and regional authorities in reaching the goal of "sustainable seas". The United States and Canada were among the more than 100 signatories that agreed in 1995 to strengthen national, regional, and global arrangements in addressing marine degradation from land-based pollution and activities. The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) chose the Gulf of Maine region as one of two pilot project areas in North America for facilitating the development of regional actions using the methodology of the GPA. The Commission, while recognizing the considerable amount of public sector and scientific cooperation and networking in the region, such as efforts of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (CME) and the Regional Association for Research on the Gulf of Maine (RARGOM), has proposed to continue to assist the region over a two-year period in GPA implementation efforts. Assistance by the CEC would be based on priority actions identified by representatives at a regional workshop on implementing the GPA in the Gulf of Maine. This document not only summarizes the discussions and recommendations from the CEC sponsored workshop held in Durham, New Hampshire, USA (November 20-22, 1996) as part of the pilot project, but also includes a background paper (prepared for the workshop). Following an introduction, the background paper describes the GPA methodology; provides an overview of the Gulf of Maine region including ecosystem relationships and marine resources of importance; reviews land-based pollution and physical alteration in the region; summarizes existing regional cooperation agreements and arrangements; compares national management approaches to controlling land-based pollution activities; and assesses the status of regional management objectives and actions in light of the GPA methodology. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by Rob Currie and Ray MacCallum, research assistants with the Marine and Environmental Law Programme at Dalhousie Law School, and by Radika Bhaskar, a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Thanks also goes to Molly Ross at Dalhousie Law School for word processing support. Christine Cristo's logistic support for the conference and the paper is also appreciated The vast amounts of information provided by state and provincial departments and officials, too numerous to mention, are also acknowledged. A special thanks goes to David Keeley at the Maine State Planning Office and members of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment Working Group for providing updates on recent Gulf of Maine Council initiatives. Helpful suggestions of members of the Technical Advisory Group were also appreciated Those members included. John Karau (Chief, Marine Environment Division, Environment Canada), Thomas Laughlin (Office of International Mairs, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department of Commerce) and Martha Rosas (Program Manager, Commission for Environmental Cooperation). ACRONYMSAND ABBREVIATIONS ACAP Atlantic Coastal Action Program ARET Voluntary Accelerated Reduction~Eliminationof Toxics BATS best available techniques BEPs best environmental practices BOD biochemical oxygen demand CANUSLANT Joint Canada-United States Marine Pollution Contingency Plan for Spills of Oil and Other Noxious Sunstances CBEP Casco Bay Estuary Program CBP Casco Bay Program CCME Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment CCbP Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan CEC Commission for Environmental Cooperation CEPA Canadian Environmental Protection Act CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act CLURE Commission on Land Use and the Rural Environment CME Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment CME AP Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment Action Plan COSEWIC Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada csos combined sewer overflows CWA Clean Water Act CZMA Coastal Zone Management Act DDE dichloro diphenyl ethane (?) DDT dichloro diphenyl dichloroethane DFO Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans DREP Damarascotta River Estuary Program ECNASAP East Coast of North America Strategic Assessment Project EDIMS Environmental Data and Information Management System EOEA Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs ESA Endangered Species Act FCB fecal coliform bacteria FDA US Food and Drug Administration (see US FDA) FMESP Fundy Marine Ecosystem Science Project GEF Global Environmental Facility GIs Geographic Information System GOMRMRP Gulf of Maine Regional Marine Research Program GPA Global Programme of Action for the Protection of of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities GPS Global positioning system HCB hexachlorobenzine HCH hexachlorocyclohexane HMW high molecular weight IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency ICM integrated coastal management IPPC integrated