METADATA.DOC

1 Identification

1.1 Citation:

Citation_Information:

> 8.1 Originator: Center for Marine Conservation (Carol Baumann); Gulf
> of Maine Marine Protected Areas Project (Sam Brody); Oceans Act
> Coordination Office, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Derek
> Fenton); Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Betsy Nicholson)

8.2 Publication Date: September 1998

> 8.4 Title: GIS Database of Existing Coastal & Marine Protected Areas,
> Conservation Zones, and Restricted Fishing Areas in the Gulf of Maine

8.5 Edition: version 1

8.6 Geospatial Data Presentation Form: ArcView shape file

8.8 Publication Information:

8.8.1 Publication Place: Washington, D.C.

8.8.2 Publisher: Center for Marine Conservation (CMC)

1.2 Description:

> 1.2.1 Abstract: As part of the Gulf of Maine Marine Protected Areas
> (MPAs) Project, a GIS database of existing coastal and marine
> protected areas, conservation zones, and restricted fishing areas in
> the Gulf of Maine has been produced. As defined by the World
> Conservation Union (IUCN), a marine protected area is "any area of
> intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and
> associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has
> been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all
> of the enclosed environment." Due to the broad scope of this
> definition and the diversity of protection levels within the study
> area, it was decided that information would be collected for a wide
> range of areas.
>
> Data were gathered for state/provincial parks, national parks,
> offshore fishing closures, wildlife management areas, national
> wildlife areas, and other regulations that seek to protect a discrete
> area in the marine environment. The following types of regulations and
> site objectives were not included in the database: areas closed or
> regulated for human health purposes; quota management tools for
> fishing; emergency measures; fishing gear conflicts; fishing regulated
> mesh areas; broad regulations that do not apply to a specific
> coastal/marine area; regulations that are not designed to protect
> species, habitats, or parts of the marine ecosystem.
>
> The study area was expanded beyond the Gulf of Maine proper to include
> important offshore fishing closures on George's Bank. Water portions
> extend from Cape Cod north through the Bay of Fundy and east to
> include George's Bank, Brown's Bank and the western Peninsula of Nova
> Scotia up to Halifax. The study area also includes land which lies
> adjacent to or touches salt water. Jurisdictions which lie in the
> study area include Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick,
> Nova Scotia, U.S. federal offshore areas, and Canadian offshore areas.
>
> The database includes the following attributes: name, designation,
> jurisdiction, location, size, year established, legislation,
> ownership, specific regulations, and IUCN category.
>
> The sites are represented by points and polygons. The U.S. federal
> sites were extracted from the Center for Marine Conservation's Marine
> and Coastal Protected Areas (MACPA) Database. State sites were
> provided by various state agencies, see section 1.11 (Data Set Credit)
> for a complete list. Canadian federal and provincial sites were
> provided by the Oceans Act Coordination Office, Department of
> Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Attribute information was compiled by
> Betsy Nicholson by contacting various government agencies, individual
> sites and field personnel.
>
> The database is composed of several ArcView shape files. The sites
> have been grouped into files based on their designation as follows:
>
> F_NMS.SHP - National Marine Sanctuaries
>
> F_FISH.SHP - federal fishing closures: National Marine Fisheries
> Service, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
>
> F_NERR.SHP - National Estuarine Research Reserves
>
> F_NWR.SHP - National Wildlife Refuges
>
> F_PARK.SHP - Federal/National Parks
>
> F_CRTHAB.SHP - Right Whale Critical Habitats
>
> F_CWS.SHP - Canada Wildlife Service sites: Migratory Bird Sanctuary,
> National Wildlife Areas
>
> S_ACEC.SHP - State Areas of Critical Environmental Concern
>
> S_OSANC.SHP - State Ocean Sanctuaries
>
> SP_PARK.SHP - State/Provincial Parks: parks, forests, reservations,
> beaches, marinas, piers
>
> S_FISH.SHP - state fishing restrictions: mobile and fixed gear
> regulations
>
> S_COMP.SHP - State Complimentary Harbor Porpoise Closures
>
> SP_WMA.SHP - State/Provincial Wildlife Management Areas
>
> S_WSANC.SHP - State Wildlife Sanctuaries
>
> S_HIST.SHP - State Historic Sites
>
> S_PRL.SHP - State Public Reserved Lands
>
> S_MCA.SHP - State Marine Conservation Areas
>
> ME_ESHAB.SHP - Maine's State Essential Habitat for Endangered Species
>
> P_ESTHAB.SHP - Eastern Habitat Joint Venture sites (Canada)
>
> CA_NGO.SHP - Canadian Non-governmental sites
>
> This database was produced by a partnership between the Center for
> Marine Conservation, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine
> Environment, the Marine Policy Center at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
> Institution, and the Oceans Act Coordination Office, Department of
> Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

1.3 Time Period of Content:

9.2 Multiple Dates/Times

9.1.1 Calendar Date: Various. The database has been compiled in 1998.

1.4 Status:

1.4.1 Progress: Complete

1.4.2 Maintenance and Update Frequency: Irregular

1.5 Spatial Domain:

1.5.1 Bounding Coordinates:

1.5.1.1 West Bounding Coordinate: -72.0

1.5.1.2 East Bounding Coordinate: -62.0

1.5.1.3 North Bounding Coordinate: 46.5

1.5.1.4 South Bounding Coordinate: 41.0

1.6 Keywords:

1.6.1 Theme:

1.6.1.1 Theme Keyword Thesaurus: None

1.6.1.2 Theme Keyword: marine and coastal protected areas

1.6.2 Place:

1.6.2.1 Place Keyword Thesaurus: None

1.6.2.2 Place Keyword: Gulf of Maine

1.7 Access Constraints: None

1.8 Use Constraints: These marine and coastal protected area boundaries
should not be used for any legal boundary disputes. The authors shall
not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the database
described herein. These data are not legal documents and are not
intended to be used as such. The information contained in this database
is dynamic and may change over time. The data are no better than the
original sources from which they are derived. The authors give no
warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or
completeness of this database.

This database was compiled by integrating data from numerous sources.
All maps or documents produced using this data should contain a data
source credit, prominently displayed, such as "source data from the GIS
Database of Existing Coastal & Marine Protected Areas, Conservation
Zones, and Restricted Fishing Areas in the Gulf of Maine produced by a
partnership between the Center for Marine Conservation, the Gulf of
Maine Council on the Marine Environment, the Marine Policy Center at the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Oceans Act Coordination
Office, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

1.9 Point of Contact:

10.2 Contact Organization Primary:

10.1.1 Contact Organization: Center for Marine Conservation

10.3 Contact Position: GIS Specialist

10.4 Contact Address:

10.4.1 Address Type: mailing and physical address

10.4.2 Address: 1725 DeSales St., NW Suite 600

10.4.3 City: Washington

10.4.4 State or Province: D.C.

10.4.5 Postal Code: 20036

10.4.6 Country: USA

10.5 Contact Voice Telephone: 202-429-5609

10.7 Contact Facsimile Telephone: 202-872-0619

10.8 Contact Electronic Mail Address: cbaumann@cenmarine.com

1.11 Data Set Credit:

Center for Marine Conservation, MASS GIS, Massachusetts Water Resources
Authority, Maine Department of Marine Resources, Maine State Office of
GIS, New Hampshire GRANITNet, and Oceans Act Coordination Office,
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

1.13 Native Data Set Environment: This database was created, edited,
and/or compiled in ArcView 3.0a on a personal computer running Windows
95. The database size (multiple files) is approximately 2.5 MB.

2 Data Quality Information

2.5 Lineage:

2.5.1 Source Information:

2.5.1.1 Source Citation: Information for this element varies for each
protected area included in the database.

2.5.1.2 Source Scale Denominator: Information for this element varies
for each protected area included in the database.

2.5.1.3 Type of Source Media: Variety of digital and analog sources
depending on the particular protected area.

2.5.1.4 Source Time Period of Content:

9.2 Multiple Dates/Times

9.1.1 Calendar Date: various

2.5.2 Process Step:

> 2.5.2.1 Process Description: This database was compiled by combining
> site boundaries from a variety of sources both digital and analog. For
> the federal offshore areas, boundary polygons were created from the
> lists of latitude/longitude coordinates published in the U.S. Code of
> Federal Regulations or provided by the Oceans Act Coordination Office,
> Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Processing of the data
> involved selecting the appropriate protected areas from the data
> provided by the various agencies, deleting the existing attributes,
> reprojecting the data into a standard projection, and compiling the
> data into separate shape files based on the site designation. The
> attribute data was initially recorded in a spreadsheet and then
> exported in a database format and linked to the GIS data.

2.5.2.3 Process Date: 1998

3 Spatial Data Organization Information

3.2 Direct Spatial Reference Method: Vector

4 Spatial Reference Information

4.1 Horizontal Coordinate System Definition:

4.1.1 Geographic:

4.1.1.3 Geographic Coordinate Units: Decimal degrees

4.1.4 Geodetic Model:

4.1.4.2 Ellipsoid Name: Spheroid

5 Entity and Attribute Information

5.1 Detailed Description:

5.1.1 Entity Type:

5.1.1.1 Entity Type Label: F_NMS.DBF (same for all files in the GIS
database)

5.1.1.2 Entity Type Definition: polygon or point attribute table

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: AreaName

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: proper name of the site, using the
following abbreviations for the designation:

ACEC Area of Critical Environmental Concern

IHS International Historic Site

IP International Park

MBS Migratory Bird Sanctuary

NERR National Estuarine Research Reserve

NHP National Historical Park

NHS National Historic Site

NMS National Marine Sanctuary

NP National Park

NRA National Recreational Area

NS National Seashore

NWA National Wildlife Area

NWR National Wildlife Refuge

SB State Beach

SHS State Historic Site

SP State Park

SR State Reservation

WMA Wildlife Management Area

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Designate

2.  Attribute Definition: type of designation

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Jurisdict

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: jurisdiction in which site is located

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

MA Massachusetts

ME Maine

NH New Hampshire

NB New Brunswick

NS Nova Scotia

US United States

CA Canada

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Latitude

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: latitude of center of site as calculated
by ArcView

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Longitude

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: longitude of center of site as calculated
by ArcView

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Off_acre

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: total area in acres as provided by the
responsible agency

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: GIS_acre

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: total area in acres as calculated by
ArcView

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Year

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: year the site was formally established
> or, in the cases of seasonal fishery and gear closures, the year the
> site went into effect

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Legislate

2.  Attribute Definition: legislation; the law, act or statute by which
    the site was

> designated

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Owner1

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: the jurisdiction that has authority over
the site

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

F federal

SP state or provincial

NP NGO or private

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Owner2

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: the jurisdiction that has authority over
the site

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

F federal

SP state or provincial

NP NGO or private

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Manage1

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: managing organization; the organization
> that manages and regulates the site

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

CA Heritage Canada Heritage - Parks Canada

> CG, DFO Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and
>
> Oceans
>
> Cum Co Cumberland County Municipality
>
> CWS Environment Canada - Canadian Wildlife
>
> Service

DFAIT Department of Foreign Affairs and

> International Trade (Canada)
>
> DOI FWS Department of Interior - Fish and Wildlife
>
> Service
>
> DOI NPS Department of Interior - National Park
>
> Service

Intl Prk Com Roosevelt Campobello International Park

> Commission
>
> MA DEM Massachusetts Department of
>
> Environmental Management
>
> MA DEP Massachusetts Department of
>
> Environmental Protection
>
> MA DFWELE Massachusetts Department of Fisheries,
>
> Wildlife and Environmental Law
>
> Enforcement
>
> MA DMF Massachusetts Department of Fisheries
>
> MCZM Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management
>
> Program
>
> ME BPL Maine Bureau of Public Lands (Department
>
> of Conservation)
>
> ME DMR Maine Department of Marine Resources
>
> ME DOC Maine Department of Conservation
>
> ME IFW Maine Inland Fish and Wildlife
>
> NB DNRE New Brunswick Department of Natural
>
> Resources and Energy
>
> NGO/Priv Non-governmental Organization/Private
>
> NH DFG New Hampshire Department of Fish and
>
> Game
>
> NH DPL New Hampshire Division of Parks and
>
> Lands (Department of Resources and
>
> Economic Development)
>
> NH RMA New Hampshire Reserve Management
>
> Authority
>
> NOAA NMFS National Oceanic & Atmospheric
>
> Administration - National Marine Fisheries
>
> Service
>
> NOAA SRD National Oceanic & Atmospheric
>
> Administration - Sanctuaries & Reserves
>
> Division
>
> NS DENV Nova Scotia Department of Environment
>
> NS DNR Nova Scotia Department of Natural
>
> Resources

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Manage2

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: managing organization; the organization
> that manages and regulates the site

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value: same as Manage1

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: IUCN_Cat

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: World Conservation Union (IUCN) management
category

> 5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

I Strict Protection

II Ecosystem Conservation and Recreation

III Conservation of Natural Features

IV Conservation Through Active Management

V Landscape/Seascape Conservation and Recreation

VI Sustainable Use of Natural Ecosystems

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Regulation

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: specific regulations that apply to the
site

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Comm_fish1

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: commercial fishing closures or
restrictions

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

> CY multi-species or species-specific year-round closed or
>
> restricted area

CS multi-species or species-specific seasonal closed or

> restricted area

RY year-round closed or restricted area whose purpose is

> to regulate the use of certain gear types
>
> RS seasonally closed or restricted area whose purpose is
>
> to regulate the use of certain types of gear

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Comm_fish2

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: commercial fishing closures or
restrictions

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

> 5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value: same as Comm_fish1

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Comm_type

2.  Attribute Definition: type of fish or gear to which the commercial
    fishing

> closures or restrictions apply

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Comm_time

2.  Attribute Definition: time period for which the seasonal commercial
    fishing

> closures or restrictions apply

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Rec_fish

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: recreational fishing closures or
> restrictions; the requirement of a state license is not considered a
> "recreational fishing restriction"

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

C closed to recreational fishing

R restricted; significant restrictions pertaining to take

> and size limit of catch

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Boating

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: boating closures or restrictions; if
> boating is not permissible due to natural inaccessibility or the
> absence of a boat launch, this category was not assigned

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

C closed; boating prohibited

R restricted; restrictions on vessel type, size and access

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Develop

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: development (mining, aquaculture, oil
> rigs) closures or restrictions; the requirement of a license to permit
> development activities is not considered a "restriction"

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

C closed

R restricted

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Wildlife

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: disturbance of wildlife restrictions;
> moving, touching, harassing wildlife sites (nesting, feeding,
> breeding) and/or species

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

C closed - restrictions apply to whole site

> R restricted - restrictions apply to only certain areas in
>
> the site

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Hunting

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: hunting closures or restrictions; the
> requirement of obtaining a hunting license, obeying hunting season
> restrictions, and observing public proximity safety regulations is not
> considered a "restriction"; if hunting is not permissible due to
> spatial restricitons and high public use, this category is not
> assigned

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

C closed; hunting of any kind is prohibited

R restricted; restrictions on the hunting of specific

> species

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Research

5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: research restrictions; on-site research
activities

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

C closed; not permitted

R restricted

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Dumping

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: dumping/discharge of wastes or waste
> water restrictions; including "pack it out" public use areas; areas
> equipped with dumping stations from which waste is transferred
> regularly are not considered "restricted"

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

C closed; prohibited

R restricted

5.1.2 Attribute:

5.1.2.1 Attribute Label: Hum_Access

> 5.1.2.2 Attribute Definition: human access closures or restrictions
> either for health, safety or wildlife protection reasons; partially
> closed areas may include areas with designated "no public access"
> sections to protect wildlife nesting sites; public use areas, such as
> state parks, that are seasonally closed or unstaffed are not
> considered "closures" under this definition

5.1.2.4.1 Enumerated Domain:

5.1.2.4.1.1 Enumerated Domain Value:

C closed; entirely prohibits human access

R restricted; partially prohibits human access

6 Distribution Information

6.1 Distributor:

10.2 Contact Organization Primary:

10.1.1 Contact Organization: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA - Stellwagen
Bank NMS

10.3 Contact Position: Sanctuary Manager

10.4 Contact Address:

10.4.1 Address Type: mailing and physical address

10.4.2 Address: 14 Union St.

10.4.3 City: Plymouth

10.4.4 State or Province: MA

10.4.5 Postal Code: 02360

10.4.6 Country: USA

10.5 Contact Voice Telephone: 508-747-1691

10.7 Contact Facsimile Telephone: 508-747-1949

10.8 Contact Electronic Mail Address: sbnms@ocean.nos.noaa.gov

6.4 Standard Order Process:

6.4.2 Digital Form:

6.4.2.1 Digital Transfer Information:

6.4.2.1.1 Format Name: ArcView Shape file

6.4.2.1.7 Transfer Size: 2.5 MB

6.4.2.2 Digital Transfer Option:

6.4.2.2.1.2 Access Instructions: Contact the distributor to receive the
database by email or ftp.

6.6 Technical Prerequisites: GIS software that can process ArcView Shape
files.

7 Metadata Reference Information

7.1 Metadata Date: 19980930

7.4 Metadata Contact:

10.2 Contact Organization Primary:

10.1.1 Contact Organization: Center for Marine Conservation

10.3 Contact Position: GIS Specialist

10.4 Contact Address:

10.4.1 Address Type: mailing and physical address

10.4.2 Address: 1725 DeSales St., NW Suite 600

10.4.3 City: Washington

10.4.4 State or Province: D.C.

10.4.5 Postal Code: 20036

10.4.6 Country: USA

10.5 Contact Voice Telephone: 202-429-5609

10.7 Contact Facsimile Telephone: 202-872-0619

10.8 Contact Electronic Mail Address: cbaumann@cenmarine.com

7.5 Metadata Standard Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital
Geospatial Metadata

7.6 Metadata Standard Version: 19940608