Spatial Analysis of Benthic-Pelagic Coupling in Stellwagen Bank (Gulf of Maine) and Its Correlation to Fishing Activities

Marine ecosystems are heterogeneous in space and in time, as is the distribution of human activities that benefit from these resources. In fact, some of the most vulnerable areas in marine ecosystems are those in which fishing activities spatially and temporally overlap with concentrations of marine organisms from different trophic levels across the water column (i.e. hotspots). As resources for management purposes become scarcer, prioritizing the protection of these hotspots may be warranted. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) determine the spatial distribution of marine resources across Stellwagen Bank (Gulf of Maine), in particular the areas with strong benthic-pelagic coupling; and (2) analyze the spatial correlation between aggregations of marine species and the distribution of fishing activity. Data used in this study includes high-resolution pictures of the seafloor, remote sensing images and multibeam bathymetry maps. The analysis phase of this project is still ongoing at this point. This study will provide an interdisciplinary and spatially explicit approach to enhance the information flow to marine spatial planners. Our results will support their efforts to spatially allocate human activities so as to maintain a resilient and healthy ecosystem in the long-term.