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Essential Fish Habitat
Fundamental Fish Habitat (EFH) was defined by the U. S i9000. Congress in the 1996 amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Preservation 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 oceans include all aquatic areas and their physical, chemical, and biological properties; substrate contains the associated biological organizations that make these areas suitable for fish habitats, and the description and identification of EFH should include habitats used whenever you want during the species' life cycle.|2| EFH incorporates all types of aquatic habitat, just like wetlands, coral reefs, fine sand, seagrasses, and rivers.|3|
NOAA Fisheries works with the regional fishery management local authorities to designate EFH making use of the best available scientific details. EFH has been described for more than a 1, 000 managed variety to date.|4| The key purpose of EFH regulations is always to minimize the adverse effects of fishing and non reef fishing impacts on EFH towards the maximum extent practicable.
In 1996, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act was amended to establish a fresh requirements to identify and explain EFH to protect, conserve and enhance EFH for the advantage of the fisheries.|5| The Magnuson-Stevens Act features jurisdiction over the management and conservation of marine fish species. Federal agencies must consult with NOAA Fisheries when their actions or actions may adversely affect an environment identified by federal territorial fishery management councils or perhaps NOAA Fisheries as EFH.|6| On Dec 19, 1997, interim final rules were published in the Federal Register (Vol. sixty two, No . 244) which identify procedures for implementation in the EFH provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.|7| These kinds 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 system (FMP) amendment, and detail the coordination, consultation, and recommendation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Affects from certain fishing practices and coastal and nautical development and may alter, harm, or destroy habitats important for fish. NOAA Fisheries, the regional fishery management local authorities (FMCs), and other federal businesses work together to minimize these dangers.|13| Congress has established councils to classify unfavorable has an effect on on fishes in relation to types of fishing gear, coastal developments and nonpoint and point source pollution, along with, evaluating how well every single fishery is managed. The FMCs, with assistance from NOAA Fisheries, has delineated EFH for federally managed kinds. As new FMPs will be developed, EFH for recently managed species will also be defined.|14| FMPs need to describe and identify EFH for the fishery, decrease to the extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing in EFH, and identify additional actions to encourage the conservation and enhancement of EFH.
Through consultations, NOAA Fisheries can suggest ways federal agencies can avoid or minimize the adverse effects of their actions in the habitat of federally maintained commercial and recreational fisheries.|16| Federal actions agencies which fund, grant, or carry out activities which may adversely affect EFH are required to consult with NOAA Fisheries.|17| The federal actions agency must provide NOAA Fisheries with an analysis of all actions or suggested actions authorized, funded, or perhaps undertaken by the agency which may adversely affect EFH.|18| Then NOAA Fisheries will provide the federal action agency with EFH Conservation recommendations.|19| These Conservation Recommendations provide information on how to prevent, minimize, mitigate, or balance those adverse effects.|20| Federal action agencies need to provide a written explanation to NOAA Fisheries if these recommendations have not been adopted.|21| NOAA The fishing industry must also include measures to minimize the adverse effects of angling gear and fishing activities on EFH as well.|22| In addition , NOAA Fisheries and the FMCs may touch upon and make recommendations to any state agency on their activities which may affect EFH.|23|
Most consultations are done inside the NMFS regional offices: Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Workplace (GARFO), Southeast Regional Office (SERO), West Coast Territorial 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 firms and private landowners are not needed to consult with NMFS. EFH meetings are required if the federal government possesses authorized, funded, or taken on part or all of a proposed activity, and if the action will adversely influence EFH.|24| Detrimentally affecting EFH includes immediate or indirect physical, chemical substance or biological alterations in the waters or substrate and loss of, or injury to types and their habitat, and other ecosystem components, or reduction with the quality and/or quantity of EFH.
Home areas of particular concern or HAPCs are considered high top priority areas for conservation, management, and research.|26| HAPCs are subsets of EFH that merit special attention because they meet by least one of the following 5 criteria:
provide important ecological function;
are sensitive to environmental degradation;
include a an environment type that is/will become stressed by development;
add a habitat type that is unusual.|27|
Current HAPCs consist of important habitats like estuaries, canopy kelp, corals, seagrass, and rocky reefs, between other areas of interest. HAPCs are afforded the same regulatory security as EFH and do not rule out activities from occurring in the area, such as fishing, diving, swimming or surfing.
Imperative Fish Habitat is chosen for all federally managed seafood under the MSA whereas Essential Habitat is designated pertaining to the survival and recovery of species listed as threatened or endangered underneath the Endangered Species Act (ESA).|29| Critical habitats include areas occupied by threatened or endangered types that include physical and biological features that are essential to the conservation of the species.|30| Critical Habitat is certainly designated as critical at the moment a species is listed under the ESA.|31| EFH and Critical Habitat are very different in terms of designation and regulation, but they may overlap for several species such as salmon.|32|
Environment characteristics include sediment type, type of bottoms (sand, silt and clay), structures base the water surface, and marine community structures. These g?te are essential for fish and ecosystem health. The fundamental home structure begins with gunk. Erosion is stabilized by simply submerged aquatic vegetation. There are two main types of bottoms, hard and gentle.|33| A study by Christensen at el. (2004) looked at three bottom environment types (vegetated marsh border, submerged aquatic vegetation, and shallow non-vegetated bottom) with regards to 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 whenever they co-occurred. Finding the areas that had the highest abundance helped to identify EFH of teenage brown shrimp.|34|
Hard bottom also known as coral reefs or live bottom delivers hard complex vertical framework for attachment of a dry sponge, seaweed, and coral, which often support a diverse reef seafood community.|35| This 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 are also 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 may be primary nursery areas, anadromous fish spawning areas, and anadromous nursery areas. Qualities that affect soft starting in relation to organisms that employ them include sediment hemp size, salinity, dissolved oxygen and flow.
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