Habitat Assessment Improvement Plan

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has a mandated responsibility to sustain marine fisheries and associated habitats. The Marine Fisheries Habitat Assessment Improvement Plan (HAIP) defines unique role of NMFS in pursuing habitat science and in developing habitat assessments to meet this mandate. Through these plans, NMFS establishes the framework to coordinate its diverse habitat research, monitoring, and assessments and to guide the development of budget alternatives and increased support for habitat science.

Assist the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in developing the habitat science necessary to meet the mandates of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act (MSRA) and the economic, social, and environmental needs of the nation;

a. Improve our ability to identify essential fish habitat (EFH) and habitat areas of particular concern (HAPC);

b. Provide information needed to assess impacts to EFH;

c. Reduce habitat-related uncertainty in stock assessments;

d. Facilitate a greater number of Marine Fisheries Stock Assessment Improvement Plan (SAIP) Tier 3 stock assessments, including those that explicitly incorporate ecosystem considerations and spatial analyses;

e. Contribute to assessments of ecosystem services (i.e. the things people need and care about that are provided by marine systems); and

f. Contribute to ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM), integrated ecosystem assessments (IEA's), and coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP).