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DEFINING ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT AND ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF FISHING GEAR ON STOCKS
DEFINING ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT AND ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF FISHING GEAR ON STOCKS
Problem Statement
Under the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA), NOAA Fisheries is required to identify
and protect essential fish habitat (EFH) and to conduct consultations on activities
that may affect it. Related to this charge is the task of evaluating the impact of
fishing gear on EFHs.
Critical Factors
- Habitats must be characterized and their relationship to distribution and
abundance of fish must be defined in order to identify EFHs.
- Use of fishing gear can negatively impact habitats of West Coast groundfish
and it is necessary to develop ways to understand and mitigate these impacts.
- More data are needed on the nature and extent of gear impacts before safeguards
can be developed, new gear types can be developed or restrictive measures on
gear use can be implemented.
Status of Research
Research on the impact of fishing and other activities on marine habitats focuses
on four areas:
- Defining the relationships between habitats and groundfish;
- Determining which habitats are most susceptible to impacts;
- Determining the relationship between different levels of fishing
activity and habitat degradation;
- Developing new fishing practices and gear to minimize the impact of
fishing on habitats.
The groundfish habitat research at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center is
focused on developing both base maps of habitats (including information on
oceanography, bathymetry and sediment type) and maps of species distribution
and abundance. The data are being compared to determine the habitat associations
of many life history stages of individual groundfish species. The data will
then be correlated with data on present and past fishing grounds and fishing
methods to assess the impacts of those techniques on given locales.
Future Considerations
Groundfish habitat on the West Coast is very diverse and spans a large
geographic area. Existing habitat data are sparse and what data are available
are dispersed over many agencies and institutions. Much of the habitat cannot
be surveyed by trawls so new technologies for surveying distributions of fish
in untrawlable habitats must be developed and deployed. Additionally, gear
research efforts must be expanded to develop new low-impact gears and fishing methods.
Key Players
Fishery Resource Analysis & Monitoring (FRAM) Division, NWFSC
Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries
National Undersea Research Program, NOAA
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA
National Ocean Service, NOAA
U.S. Geological Survey
Marine Sanctuary Program, NOAA
Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association
Contact: Dr. Elizabeth Clarke, Director, FRAM Division (206/860-3381)
NWFSC Issue Paper FRAM 6404
Issue Papers Home
last modified 2002-10-02
Web site owner: Northwest Fisheries Science Center
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