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Essential Fish Habitat
Necessary 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 required to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding or growth to maturity. "|1| Putting into action regulations clarified that seas include all aquatic areas and their physical, chemical, and biological properties; substrate contains the associated biological organizations that make these areas ideal for fish habitats, and the information and identification of EFH should include habitats used any time during the species' life spiral.|2| EFH contains all types of aquatic habitat, just like wetlands, coral reefs, yellow sand, seagrasses, and rivers.|3|
NOAA Fisheries works with the regional fishery management local authorities to designate EFH using the best available scientific info. EFH has been described for more than 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 sport fishing impacts on EFH towards the maximum extent practicable.
In 1996, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 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 possesses jurisdiction over the management and conservation of marine seafood species. Federal agencies must consult with NOAA Fisheries when their actions or activities may adversely affect an environment identified by federal local fishery management councils or perhaps NOAA Fisheries as EFH.|6| On Dec 19, 1997, interim last rules were published in the Federal Register (Vol. sixty two, No . 244) which indicate procedures for implementation from the EFH provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.|7| These kinds 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 approach (FMP) amendment, and depth the coordination, consultation, and recommendation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Has an effect on from certain fishing routines and coastal and nautical development and may alter, destruction, 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 established councils to classify unfavorable affects on fishes in relation to types of fishing gear, coast developments and nonpoint and point source pollution, and, evaluating how well every fishery is managed. The FMCs, with assistance from NOAA Fisheries, has delineated EFH for federally managed types. As new FMPs happen to be developed, EFH for recently managed species will also be defined.|14| FMPs need to describe and identify EFH for the fishery, lessen to the extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing upon EFH, and identify various other 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 in the habitat of federally maintained commercial and recreational fisheries.|16| Federal actions agencies which fund, permit, 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 analysis of all actions or offered actions authorized, funded, or perhaps undertaken by the agency which may adversely affect EFH.|18| Then NOAA The fishing industry will provide the federal action agency with EFH Conservation recommendations.|19| These types of Conservation Recommendations provide information on how to avoid, minimize, mitigate, or offset those adverse effects.|20| Federal action agencies need to provide a written explanation to NOAA Fisheries if some of these recommendations have not been adopted.|21| NOAA Fisheries must also include measures to minimize the adverse effects of sport fishing gear and fishing activities on EFH as well.|22| In addition , NOAA The fishing industry and the FMCs may discuss and make recommendations to any state agency on their activities which may affect EFH.|23|
Most consultations are done in the NMFS regional offices: Increased Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO), Southeast Regional Business office (SERO), West Coast Territorial Office (WCRO), Alaska Regional Office (AKRO), and Pacific cycles Islands Regional Office (PIRO). National consultations spanning multiple regions can be done at NOAA Fisheries Headquarters.
State firms and private landowners are not instructed to consult with NMFS. EFH services are required if the federal government has authorized, funded, or done part or all of a proposed activity, and if the action will adversely have an effect on EFH.|24| Negatively affecting EFH includes immediate or indirect physical, chemical substance or biological alterations on the waters or substrate and loss of, or injury to kinds and their habitat, and other ecosystem components, or reduction on the quality and/or quantity of EFH.
An environment areas of particular concern or HAPCs are considered high goal areas for conservation, administration, 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 environmental function;
are sensitive to environmental degradation;
include a natural environment type that is/will come to be stressed by development;
include a habitat type that is uncommon.|27|
Current HAPCs consist of important habitats like estuaries, canopy kelp, corals, seagrass, and rocky reefs, among other areas of interest. HAPCs are afforded the same regulatory coverage as EFH and do not exclude activities from occurring inside the area, such as fishing, snorkeling, swimming or surfing.
Imperative Fish Habitat is designated for all federally managed seafood under the MSA whereas Essential Habitat is designated pertaining to the survival and restoration of species listed seeing that threatened or endangered within the Endangered Species Act (ESA).|29| Critical habitats include areas occupied by threatened or endangered kinds that include physical and scientific features that are essential to the conservation of the species.|30| Critical Habitat is definitely designated as critical at the time a species is listed within the ESA.|31| EFH and Critical Habitat are different in terms of designation and rules, but they may overlap for certain 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 habitats are essential for fish and ecosystem health. The fundamental home structure begins with gunk. Erosion is stabilized simply by 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 natural environment types (vegetated marsh border, submerged aquatic vegetation, and shallow non-vegetated bottom) regarding juvenile brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus). The results from the research showed that brown prawn selected vegetated areas in salinities 15-25 ppt plus they would select vegetated areas over marsh edges every time 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 structure for attachment of a dry sponge, seaweed, and coral, which often 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 a sponge. Areas of compacted or sheered mud and sediment are 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 might be primary nursery areas, anadromous fish spawning areas, and anadromous nursery areas. Qualities that affect soft lower part in relation to organisms that utilize them include sediment wheat size, salinity, dissolved breathable oxygen and flow.
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