Essential Fish Habitat
Fundamental Fish Habitat (EFH) was defined by the U. H. Congress in the 1996 amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, or Magnuson-Stevens Act, as "those waters and substrate needed to fish for spawning, breeding, nourishing or growth to maturity. "|1| Implementing 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 information and identification of EFH should include habitats used anytime during the species' life cycle.|2| EFH involves all types of aquatic habitat, such as wetlands, coral reefs, yellow sand, seagrasses, and rivers.|3|
NOAA Fisheries works with the regional fishery management councils to designate EFH making use of the best available scientific facts. EFH has been described for over a 1, 000 managed types to date.|4| The primary purpose of EFH regulations is to minimize the adverse effects of fishing and non reef fishing impacts on EFH to the maximum extent practicable.
In 1996, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Take action was amended to establish a brand new requirements to identify and illustrate EFH to protect, conserve and enhance EFH for the main benefit of the fisheries.|5| The Magnuson-Stevens Act has jurisdiction over the management and conservation of marine fish species. Federal agencies need to consult with NOAA Fisheries when ever their actions or actions may adversely affect home identified by federal territorial fishery management councils or perhaps NOAA Fisheries as EFH.|6| On December 19, 1997, interim last rules were published inside the Federal Register (Vol. over 60, No . 244) which stipulate procedures for implementation in the EFH provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.|7| These types of 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 strategy (FMP) amendment, and depth the coordination, consultation, and recommendation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Influences from certain fishing practices and coastal and submarine development and may alter, damage, or destroy habitats important for fish. NOAA Fisheries, the regional fishery management councils (FMCs), and other federal businesses work together to minimize these dangers.|13| Congress has created councils to classify unfavorable has an effect on on fishes in relation to types of fishing gear, coastal developments and non-point and point source pollution, and, evaluating how well every single fishery is managed. The FMCs, with assistance from NOAA Fisheries, has delineated EFH for federally managed variety. As new FMPs are developed, EFH for recently managed species will also be described.|14| FMPs must describe and identify EFH for the fishery, decrease to the extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing in EFH, and identify different 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 for the habitat of federally handled commercial and recreational fisheries.|16| Federal action agencies which fund, support, or carry out activities that may adversely affect EFH are required to consult with NOAA Fisheries.|17| The federal actions agency must provide NOAA Fisheries with an assessment of all actions or proposed actions authorized, funded, or perhaps undertaken by the agency which may adversely affect EFH.|18| Then NOAA Fisheries will provide the federal actions agency with EFH Resource efficiency recommendations.|19| These Conservation Recommendations provide information on how to prevent, minimize, mitigate, or counteract those adverse effects.|20| Federal action agencies need to provide a written explanation to NOAA Fisheries if any of these recommendations have not been used.|21| NOAA Fisheries must also include measures to minimize the adverse effects of sportfishing gear and fishing activities on EFH as well.|22| In addition , NOAA The fishing industry and the FMCs may discuss and make recommendations to the state agency on their activities which may affect EFH.|23|
Most consultations are done inside the NMFS regional offices: Better Atlantic Regional Fisheries Workplace (GARFO), Southeast Regional Workplace (SERO), West Coast Local Office (WCRO), Alaska Regional Office (AKRO), and Ocean Islands Regional Office (PIRO). National consultations spanning multiple regions can be done at NOAA Fisheries Headquarters.
State organizations and private landowners are not forced to consult with NMFS. EFH consultations are required if the federal government possesses authorized, funded, or done part or all of a proposed activity, and if the action will adversely influence EFH.|24| Badly affecting EFH includes immediate or indirect physical, substance or biological alterations with the waters or substrate and loss of, or injury to varieties and their habitat, and other environment components, or reduction from the quality and/or quantity of EFH.
Home areas of particular concern or HAPCs are considered high priority areas for conservation, administration, and research.|26| HAPCs are subsets of EFH that merit attention because they meet for least one of the following 4 criteria:
provide important ecological function;
are sensitive to environmental degradation;
include a home type that is/will end up being stressed by development;
include a habitat type that is unusual.|27|
Current HAPCs consist of important habitats like estuaries, canopy kelp, corals, seagrass, and rocky reefs, amongst other areas of interest. HAPCs are afforded the same regulatory protection as EFH and do not exclude activities from occurring in the area, such as fishing, diving, swimming or surfing.
Necessary Fish Habitat is selected for all federally managed fish under the MSA whereas Critical Habitat is designated for the survival and restoration of species listed seeing that threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).|29| Critical case include areas occupied by threatened or endangered species that include physical and natural features that are essential to the conservation of the species.|30| Critical Habitat is designated as critical during the time a species is listed underneath the ESA.|31| EFH and Critical Habitat are different in terms of designation and regulation, but they may overlap for many species such as salmon.|32|
Home characteristics include sediment type, type of bottoms (sand, silt and clay), structures hidden the water surface, and marine community structures. These g?te are essential for fish and ecosystem health. The fundamental an environment structure begins with residue. Erosion is stabilized by simply submerged aquatic vegetation. You will find two main types of bottoms, hard and gentle.|33| A study simply by Christensen at el. (2004) looked at three bottom home types (vegetated marsh advantage, submerged aquatic vegetation, and shallow non-vegetated bottom) in relation to juvenile brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus). The results from the study showed that brown prawn selected vegetated areas in salinities 15-25 ppt plus they would select vegetated areas over marsh edges if they co-occurred. Finding the areas that had the highest abundance helped to identify EFH of teen brown shrimp.|34|
Hard bottom also known as coral reefs or live bottom supplies hard complex vertical structure for attachment of a sponge, seaweed, and coral, which support a diverse reef fish community.|35| This kind of community can comprise invertebra, coral, hard coral, bryozoans, ploychaete worms, tunicates, a number of fin-fishes, alga, and a sponge. Areas of compacted or sheered mud and sediment are also a form of hard bottom.|36|
Soft bottom consists of unconsolidated sediment and unvegetated areas. In some regions soft underside are not protected even though they are often primary nursery areas, anadromous fish spawning areas, and anadromous nursery areas. Qualities that affect soft lower side in relation to organisms that employ them include sediment hemp size, salinity, dissolved oxygen and flow.
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