Sorry that I couldn't attend the meeting last night, I had to finish a five page paper for my Hass class that was due today. However, this is what I have discovered from my research so far.
From an abstract from VLIZ-an institute on integrate marine information systems: beginning in December of 1994 three large areas including the Georges Bank area of the New England Seaboard were closed year round to groundfish fishing. During the five years that they were closed fish mortality rate did greatly decrease; however, the implementation did not provide as much year round protection to migratory species such as the Atlantic cod, which is of course what we are trying to save. A suggestion made by the researchers was that "In the future, factors other than fishing mortality reduction, including optimal placement to enhance larval production and to protect nursery areas and spawning concentrations, may well influence the selection of closed-area boundaries." http://www.vliz.be/vmdcdata/imis2/imis.php?module=ref&refid=53313
This has been confirmed from various other sources that I have read. Therefore in our proposal of the closed areas we would want to consider cod migrations and perhaps cod breeding grounds more closely. Another really good article that is easy to access deals with Fishery impacts on the georges bank and the affect on marine structure. It is a long article but we might be able to glean some useful information on the rebound affects of the cod population and overfishing effects on the marine food chains. Here's the link: http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/view/10510761/di014619/01p0053w/0?frame=noframe&userID=12a00604@mit.edu/01c054500c00501240d&dpi=3&config=jstor
I'll post more later.
Thanks!
Danielle Whited