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Essential Fish Habitat
Imperative Fish Habitat (EFH) was defined by the U. Ersus. Congress in the 1996 changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, or Magnuson-Stevens Act, as "those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, nourishing or growth to maturity. "|1| Utilizing regulations clarified that seas include all aquatic areas and their physical, chemical, and biological properties; substrate incorporates the associated biological organizations that make these areas ideal for fish habitats, and the description and identification of EFH should include habitats used anytime during the species' life routine.|2| EFH involves all types of aquatic habitat, including wetlands, coral reefs, 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 facts. EFH has been described for more than a 1, 000 managed varieties to date.|4| The main purpose of EFH regulations should be 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 describe EFH to protect, conserve and enhance EFH for the main advantage of the fisheries.|5| The Magnuson-Stevens Act has jurisdiction over the management and conservation of marine seafood species. Federal agencies need to consult with NOAA Fisheries once their actions or actions may adversely affect habitat identified by federal territorial fishery management councils or perhaps 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 from the EFH provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.|7| These types of rules were amended simply by publication of final rules upon 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.
Impacts from certain fishing methods and coastal and nautical development and may alter, damage, or destroy habitats essential for fish. NOAA Fisheries, the regional fishery management local authorities (FMCs), and other federal agencies 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, 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 newly managed species will also be identified.|14| FMPs must describe and identify EFH for the fishery, lessen to the extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing on EFH, and identify different actions to encourage the conservation and enhancement of EFH.
Through consultations, NOAA Fisheries can suggest ways federal agencies can easily avoid or minimize the adverse effects of their actions within the habitat of federally handled commercial and recreational fisheries.|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 examination of all actions or suggested actions authorized, funded, or 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 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 used.|21| NOAA Fisheries must also include measures to minimize the adverse effects of sportfishing gear and fishing actions 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 actions which may affect EFH.|23|
Most consultations are done in the NMFS regional offices: Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Business office (GARFO), Southeast Regional Business 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 firms and private landowners are not needed to consult with NMFS. EFH services are required if the federal government offers authorized, funded, or taken on part or all of a proposed activity, and if the action will adversely influence EFH.|24| Negatively affecting EFH includes immediate or indirect physical, substance or biological alterations on the waters or substrate and loss of, or injury to varieties and their habitat, and other environment components, or reduction with the quality and/or quantity of EFH.
Natural environment areas of particular concern or HAPCs are considered high top priority areas for conservation, managing, and research.|26| HAPCs are subsets of EFH that merit special attention because they meet for least one of the following 4 criteria:
provide important ecological function;
are sensitive to environmental degradation;
include a habitat type that is/will get stressed by development;
will include a habitat type that is exceptional.|27|
Current HAPCs include important habitats like estuaries, canopy kelp, corals, seagrass, and rocky reefs, amongst other areas of interest. HAPCs will be afforded the same regulatory security as EFH and do not don't include activities from occurring inside the area, such as fishing, diving, swimming or surfing.
Fundamental Fish Habitat is selected for all federally managed seafood under the MSA whereas Crucial Habitat is designated meant for the survival and restoration of species listed while threatened or endangered within 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 that 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 certain species such as salmon.|32|
Natural environment characteristics include sediment type, type of bottoms (sand, silt and clay), structures hidden the water surface, and aquatic community structures. These habitats are essential for fish and ecosystem health. The fundamental environment structure begins with sediment. Erosion is stabilized by submerged aquatic vegetation. You will find two main types of bottoms, hard and gentle.|33| A study by Christensen at el. (2004) looked at three bottom an environment types (vegetated marsh advantage, 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 plus they would select vegetated areas over marsh edges when 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 composition for attachment of sponges, 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, various 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 could be primary nursery areas, anadromous fish spawning areas, and anadromous nursery areas. Features that affect soft lower side in relation to organisms that utilize them include sediment feed size, salinity, dissolved air and flow.
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