"Essential Fish Habitat"

Resource essential fish habitat consultations FAQ.

A Research Plan for the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center and Alaska Regional Office.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA) mandates NOAA to identify habitats essential for managed species and conserve habitats from adverse effects on those habitats. These habitats are termed “Essential Fish Habitat” or EFH, and are defined as “those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity”. Further, the MSFCMA requires federal agencies to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) when their actions may adversely affect EFH. These consultations occur for both fishing and non-fishing activities.1 The recently revised National Standard 1 guidelines add several provisions to facilitate the incorporation of ecosystem-based fisheries management into federal fisheries management. National Standard 2 of the MSFCMA requires NMFS to conserve and manage fishery resources based upon the best available scientific information. To meet these mandates, NOAA’s research must identify habitats that contribute most to the survival, growth, and productivity of managed fish species and determine science-based measures to best manage and conserve these habitats from adverse effects of human activities.

Celebrating Habitat Month

Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) ArcGIS web application.

Aerial Imaging Surveys in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

Day number three and mother nature was smiling sunshine. Although this makes for prime flying conditions it actually is not good lighting for imaging. Sunlight can reflect on the surface of the water and create a blinding reflection when you are shooting down from a helicopter flying at several hundred feet. The extreme contrast in lighting can send the camera’s light meters into a tailspin resulting in under and over exposed photos. Imaging glaciers on a sunny day is also challenging for the same reasons, nothing like a giant piece of ice to reflect sunlight and wash out a photo. While flying we must always be aware of what angle the sunlight is at and where it will be as we wind around tight corners and move under the shadows of steep mountain faces following the contour of complex shorelines. Sometimes there's just no avoiding getting photobombed by the sun. The ideal conditions for imaging the coastal zone are no wind, light cloud cover with a high ceiling (several thousand feet), and no rain. A show stopper for the imaging team is when the fog monster shows up.

We have successfully completed Day 2 of surveying Glacier Bay National Park for some of the northern headlands in the bay. Today’s survey included imaging of Reid Glacier (see image below), the first of many tidewater glaciers to come. So far, the flight crew has been able to generally stick to their flight plan. Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve 2018 facts (National Park Service): Two hundred and fifty years ago a single, large tidewater glacier covered all of Glacier Bay. By 1750 the glacier began to retreat and has now retreated 60 miles to the head of the bay. At last count there were 1, 045 glaciers in the Park. There are over 50 named glaciers, seven of which are active tidewater glaciers that calve icebergs into the sea. In general, tidewater and terrestrial glaciers in the Park have been thinning and receding over the last several decades. Exceptions include the Johns Hopkins and Margerie glaciers.