batch_auto_20260713 202607131256465730 BOEM ESP geoESPIS ESPIS@boem.gov Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Assessing Biological and Oceanographic Processes that Drive Fisheries Productivity on New England Sand Shoals and the Potential for Dredging Related Disruption Boston University Boston University Connectivity between forage species dependent on sand habitat and protected species which forage on those species are not well understood. This study integrated opportunistic observational, fisheries independent and dependent data featuring these species movements to hone model accuracy. This provides a comparison of traditional ecological modeling versus trade-off scenario development. The result is an improved model for use in environmental impact assessments for understanding the impacts to species which forage largely on sand lance in the MidAtlantic North to Cape Cod. 421080 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Environmental Studies Program https://doi.org/10.13039/100012475 M0119C0013 10.67297/9A1E79 https://boem.gov/awardpages/100345