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Essential Fish Habitat
Necessary Fish Habitat (EFH) was defined by the U. H. Congress in the 1996 changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Resource efficiency and Management Act, or perhaps Magnuson-Stevens Act, as "those waters and substrate important to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding or growth to maturity. "|1| Applying regulations clarified that lakes and rivers include all aquatic areas and their physical, chemical, and biological properties; substrate involves the associated biological neighborhoods that make these areas appropriate for fish habitats, and the description and identification of EFH should include habitats used whenever you want during the species' life circuit.|2| EFH involves all types of aquatic habitat, such as wetlands, coral reefs, sand, seagrasses, and rivers.|3|
NOAA Fisheries works with the regional fishery management councils to designate EFH using the best available scientific data. EFH has been described for over a 1, 000 managed species to date.|4| The main purpose of EFH regulations is usually to minimize the adverse effects of fishing and non sportfishing impacts on EFH towards the maximum extent practicable.
In 1996, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Take action was amended to establish a fresh requirements to identify and describe EFH to protect, conserve and enhance EFH for the benefit of the fisheries.|5| The Magnuson-Stevens Act has jurisdiction over the management and conservation of marine fish species. Federal agencies must consult with NOAA Fisheries when their actions or activities may adversely affect home identified by federal local fishery management councils or NOAA Fisheries as EFH.|6| On 12 , 19, 1997, interim final rules were published in the Federal Register (Vol. sixty two, No . 244) which specify procedures for implementation of the EFH provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.|7| These rules were amended simply by publication of final rules on January 17, 2002 (Vol. 67, No . 12).|8| he rules, in two subparts, address requirements for fishery management approach (FMP) amendment, and detail the coordination, consultation, and recommendation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Impacts from certain fishing methods and coastal and submarine development and may alter, damage, or destroy habitats important for fish. NOAA Fisheries, the regional fishery management local authorities (FMCs), and other federal firms work together to minimize these hazards.|13| Congress has established councils to classify unfavorable has an effect on on fishes in relation to types of fishing gear, coast developments and non-point and point source pollution, as well as, evaluating how well every single fishery is managed. The FMCs, with assistance from NOAA Fisheries, has delineated EFH for federally managed varieties. As new FMPs will be developed, EFH for recently managed species will also be identified.|14| FMPs must describe and identify EFH for the fishery, reduce to the extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing about EFH, and identify additional actions to encourage the conservation and enhancement of EFH.
Through consultations, NOAA Fisheries can suggest ways federal agencies may avoid or minimize the adverse effects of their actions within the habitat of federally handled commercial and recreational the fishing industry.|16| Federal actions agencies which fund, license, or carry out activities that may adversely affect EFH have to consult with NOAA Fisheries.|17| The federal action agency must provide NOAA Fisheries with an analysis of all actions or offered actions authorized, funded, or undertaken by the agency that may adversely affect EFH.|18| Then NOAA The fishing industry will provide the federal actions agency with EFH Preservation recommendations.|19| These types of Conservation Recommendations provide information on how to prevent, minimize, mitigate, or offset those adverse effects.|20| Federal action agencies must provide a written explanation to NOAA Fisheries if these recommendations have not been followed.|21| NOAA Fisheries must also include measures to minimize the adverse effects of reef fishing gear and fishing actions on EFH as well.|22| In addition , NOAA The fishing industry and the FMCs may touch upon and make recommendations to the state agency on their activities which may affect EFH.|23|
Most consultations are done in the NMFS regional offices: Better Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO), Southeast Regional Office (SERO), West Coast Local Office (WCRO), Alaska Local Office (AKRO), and Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO). National consultations spanning multiple regions can be done at NOAA Fisheries Headquarters.
State companies and private landowners are not needed to consult with NMFS. EFH services are required if the federal government offers authorized, funded, or undertaken part or all of a proposed activity, and if the action will adversely have an impact on EFH.|24| Badly affecting EFH includes immediate or indirect physical, substance or biological alterations of the waters or substrate and loss of, or injury to kinds and their habitat, and other ecosystem components, or reduction with the quality and/or quantity of EFH.
Natural environment areas of particular concern or perhaps HAPCs are considered high main concern areas for conservation, control, and research.|26| HAPCs are subsets of EFH that merit attention because they meet at least one of the following 4 criteria:
provide important environmental function;
are sensitive to environmental degradation;
include a home type that is/will be stressed by development;
include a habitat type that is unusual.|27|
Current HAPCs incorporate important habitats like estuaries, canopy kelp, corals, seagrass, and rocky reefs, among other areas of interest. HAPCs happen to be afforded the same regulatory protection as EFH and do not leave out activities from occurring in the area, such as fishing, diving, swimming or surfing.
Imperative Fish Habitat is specified for all federally managed seafood under the MSA whereas Important Habitat is designated pertaining to the survival and recovery of species listed as threatened or endangered beneath the Endangered Species Act (ESA).|29| Critical g?te include areas occupied by threatened or endangered types that include physical and organic features that are essential to the conservation of the species.|30| Critical Habitat is usually designated as critical at the moment a species is listed underneath the ESA.|31| EFH and Critical Habitat vary in terms of designation and legislation, but they may overlap for several species such as salmon.|32|
Environment characteristics include sediment type, type of bottoms (sand, silt and clay), structures root the water surface, and aquatic community structures. These g?te are essential for fish and ecosystem health. The fundamental natural environment structure begins with yeast sediment. Erosion is stabilized by simply submerged aquatic vegetation. You will discover two main types of bottoms, hard and soft.|33| A study by Christensen at el. (2004) looked at three bottom home types (vegetated marsh edge, submerged aquatic vegetation, and shallow non-vegetated bottom) in terms of juvenile brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus). The results from the study showed that brown shrimp selected vegetated areas in salinities 15-25 ppt and they would select vegetated areas over marsh edges after they co-occurred. Finding the areas that had the highest abundance helped to identify EFH of juvenile brown shrimp.|34|
Hard bottom also known as coral reefs or live bottom supplies hard complex vertical framework for attachment of sponges, seaweed, and coral, which in turn support a diverse reef fish community.|35| This kind of community can comprise invertebra, coral, hard coral, bryozoans, ploychaete worms, tunicates, a variety of fin-fishes, alga, and sponges. Areas of compacted or sheered mud and sediment can also be a form of hard bottom.|36|
Soft bottom consists of unconsolidated sediment and unvegetated areas. In some regions soft bottoms are not protected even though they can be primary nursery areas, anadromous fish spawning areas, and anadromous nursery areas. Features that affect soft bottom in relation to organisms that use them include sediment wheat size, salinity, dissolved air and flow.
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