Knowledgebase: Mapping the undersea landscape: Using seafloor maps to improve management of the Gulf of Maine

Mapping the undersea landscape:
Using seafloor maps to improve management of the Gulf of Maine

Locator map for case studies

Introduction to applications

Increasingly, seafloor maps are used for resource management and commercial operations in the Gulf of Maine, as illustrated in these five case studies (click "Case study" links below or numbers on map).

Applications include:

Engineering: wind farms, pipelines, power & communications cables
Dredging & dredge spoils disposal
Offshore mining
Fisheries management
Commercial fishing
Aquaculture
Ocean zoning
Marine protected areas
Marine archaeology
Petroleum extraction
Navigation safety
National defense & sovereignty
Education on marine habitat

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1. An increasing need for seafloor mapping
2. Only 15 percent of Gulf is adequately mapped
3. New technology allows unprecedented mapping
4. Introduction to applications
5. Case study 1: Routing a fiber-optic cable
6. Case study 2: Assessing effects of a fishery closure
7. Case study 3: Improving management of a lobster fishery
8. Case study 4: Identifying low-impact sites for aquaculture
9. Case study 5: Reducing impacts & improving efficiency of scallopers
10. Mapping the future: Gulf of Maine Mapping Initiative

Acknowledgements

Links: More information about seafloor mapping

Download a 4-page, printer-friendly PDF version of "Mapping the undersea landscape: Using seafloor maps to improve management of the Gulf of Maine."

To obtain printed copies of the publication, contact Susan Snow-Cotter.

This publication was produced by the Gulf of Maine Council's Science Translation Project.

Image credit: Base map courtesy United States Geological Survey - Woods Hole Field Center