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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 Resource efficiency and Management Act, or Magnuson-Stevens Act, as "those waters and substrate essential 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 organizations 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 spiral.|2| EFH involves all types of aquatic habitat, just like wetlands, coral reefs, mud, 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 types to date.|4| The key purpose of EFH regulations is to minimize the adverse effects of fishing and non sport fishing impacts on EFH for the maximum extent practicable.
In 1996, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Function was amended to establish a new requirements to identify and illustrate EFH to protect, conserve and enhance EFH for the main advantage of the fisheries.|5| The Magnuson-Stevens Act features jurisdiction over the management and conservation of marine fish species. Federal agencies need to consult with NOAA Fisheries once their actions or activities may adversely affect home identified by federal local fishery management councils or perhaps NOAA Fisheries as EFH.|6| On Dec 19, 1997, interim last rules were published inside the Federal Register (Vol. sixty two, No . 244) which designate procedures for implementation on the EFH provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.|7| These rules were amended by publication of final rules upon January 17, 2002 (Vol. 67, No . 12).|8| he rules, in two subparts, address requirements for fishery management program (FMP) amendment, and detail the coordination, consultation, and recommendation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Influences from certain fishing techniques and coastal and maritime development and may alter, damage, 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 impacts on fishes in relation to types of fishing gear, coast 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 species. As new FMPs are developed, EFH for newly managed species will also be described.|14| FMPs must describe and identify EFH for the fishery, lessen to the extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing upon EFH, and identify additional actions to encourage the conservation and enhancement of EFH.
Through consultations, NOAA Fisheries can recommend ways federal agencies may avoid or minimize the adverse effects of their actions for the habitat of federally maintained commercial and recreational the fishing industry.|16| Federal actions agencies which fund, permit, 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 diagnosis of all actions or proposed actions authorized, funded, or undertaken by the agency that may adversely affect EFH.|18| Then NOAA Fisheries will provide the federal actions agency with EFH Conservation recommendations.|19| These Conservation Recommendations provide information on keep away from, minimize, mitigate, or balance out those adverse effects.|20| Federal action agencies need to provide a written explanation to NOAA Fisheries if any of these recommendations have not been followed.|21| NOAA The fishing industry must also include measures to reduce the adverse effects of angling gear and fishing activities on EFH as well.|22| In addition , NOAA The fishing industry and the FMCs may comment on and make recommendations to any state agency on their activities which may affect EFH.|23|
Most consultations are done in the NMFS regional offices: Better Atlantic Regional Fisheries Business office (GARFO), Southeast Regional Office (SERO), West Coast Local Office (WCRO), Alaska Local Office (AKRO), and Pacific cycles Islands Regional Office (PIRO). National consultations spanning multiple regions can be done at NOAA Fisheries Headquarters.
State agencies and private landowners are not necessary to consult with NMFS. EFH consultations are required if the federal government features authorized, funded, or performed part or all of a proposed activity, and if the action will adversely have an impact on EFH.|24| Negatively affecting EFH includes direct or indirect physical, chemical or biological alterations on the waters or substrate and loss of, or injury to species and their habitat, and other ecosystem components, or reduction with the quality and/or quantity of EFH.
Natural environment areas of particular concern or HAPCs are considered high concern areas for conservation, managing, and research.|26| HAPCs are subsets of EFH that merit attention because they meet for least one of the following four criteria:
provide important ecological function;
are sensitive to environmental degradation;
include a natural environment type that is/will be stressed by development;
incorporate 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 don't include activities from occurring in the area, such as fishing, snorkeling, swimming or surfing.
Necessary Fish Habitat is chosen for all federally managed seafood under the MSA whereas Important Habitat is designated meant for the survival and restoration of species listed seeing that threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).|29| Critical g?te include areas occupied by threatened or endangered kinds that include physical and natural features that are essential to the conservation of the species.|30| Critical Habitat is definitely designated as critical at that moment a species is listed beneath the ESA.|31| EFH and Critical Habitat vary in terms of designation and regulations, but they may overlap for certain species such as salmon.|32|
Environment characteristics include sediment type, type of bottoms (sand, silt and clay), structures underlying the water surface, and aquatic community structures. These case are essential for fish and ecosystem health. The fundamental habitat structure begins with residue. Erosion is stabilized by simply submerged aquatic vegetation. There are two main types of bottoms, hard and delicate.|33| A study by simply Christensen at el. (2004) looked at three bottom an environment types (vegetated marsh advantage, submerged aquatic vegetation, and shallow non-vegetated bottom) regarding juvenile brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus). The results from the research showed that brown shrimp selected vegetated areas in salinities 15-25 ppt plus 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 provides hard complex vertical composition for attachment of a dry sponge, seaweed, and coral, which in turn support a diverse reef fish 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 also are 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 might be primary nursery areas, anadromous fish spawning areas, and anadromous nursery areas. Characteristics that affect soft lower side in relation to organisms that employ them include sediment grain size, salinity, dissolved air and flow.


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