Habitat triage for exploited fishes: Can we identify essential “Essential Fish Habitat?”

The Pacific spiny dogfish (Squalus suckleyi) is a common bycatch species in the Gulf of Alaska. Their spatial distribution is poorly understood, as most catch is discarded at sea. We analyzed spiny dogfish spatial distribution from fishery-dependent and -independent observations of longline gear between 1996 and 2008 using generalized additive and generalized linear models. Poisson, negative binomial, and quasi-Poisson error structures were investigated; the quasi-Poisson generalized additive model fit best. Models showed that spiny dogfish catches were concentrated east of Kodiak Island in waters ≤100 m deep. Results facilitate design of future spiny dogfish assessment surveys and identification of areas in which to focus at-sea observations for fishing mortality estimation, and provide the basis for first-ever designation of spiny dogfish essential fish habitat, despite US legal requirements for essential fish habitat designations since 1996. Identified areas of high bycatch may expedite spatial management by indicating areas in which directed spiny dogfish fisheries could be focused or, conversely, areas in which heightened conservation and catch accounting efforts would be most effective to prevent overfishing of this long-lived, late-maturing species.

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Does the Common Reed, Phragmites australis, Affect Essential Fish Habitat?

Estuaries ◽

10.2307/1353112 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 793 ◽

Cited By ~ 73

Author(s):

Michael P. Weinstein ◽

John H. Balletto

Keyword(s):

Phragmites Australis ◽

Fish Habitat ◽

Common Reed ◽

Essential Fish Habitat ◽

The Common

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Convergent signs of degradation in both the capacity and the quality of an essential fish habitat: state of the Seine estuary (France) flatfish nurseries

Hydrobiologia ◽

10.1007/s10750-007-0665-y ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 588 (1) ◽

pp. 225-229 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

O. Le Pape ◽

C. Gilliers ◽

P. Riou ◽

J. Morin ◽

R. Amara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fish Habitat ◽

Essential Fish Habitat ◽

Seine Estuary

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Fish Habitat: Essential Fish Habitat and Rehabilitation

Fish Habitat: Essential Fish Habitat and Rehabilitation ◽

10.47886/9781888569124.ch4 ◽

1999 ◽

Keyword(s):

Fishery Management ◽

Fish Habitat ◽

The United States ◽

Essential Fish Habitat ◽

Management Planning ◽

Fishing Fleets ◽

Definition Of ◽

National Marine Fisheries Service ◽

Conservation And Management ◽

Poor Management

<em>Abstract</em> .—Food production in the United States from ocean fisheries is leveling off after impressive growth in the 1970s and 1980s. Fishery officials project further gains through more effective regulation of harvests and reduced discarding of catch. In the longer term, however, the most important opportunity to boost production involves rehabilitating fishery habitats that have been damaged or lost because of poor management. Many thousand tons of additional seafood production can be “unlocked” for fishermen and consumers if habitats are restored. Changes in 1996 to the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (the Magnuson-Stevens Act) call for the mapping of these habitats and the inclusion of habitat concerns in fishery management planning. These new requirements, if properly implemented, will help focus the attention of fishermen and seafood consumers on what is being lost and what needs to be done to restore productivity. Although these requirements are a good first step, the rules and guidance for the new essential fish habitat (EFH) provisions are fundamentally flawed. For example, the rules to implement EFH provisions muddle the Magnuson-Stevens Act’s definition of EFH with numerous references to prey species and vague ecological ideas. Especially troubling is the introduction by the National Marine Fisheries Service through the rules of the concept of “contribution to a healthy ecosystem” as an apparent standard for delineating necessary amounts of EFH. In addition, it is important to remember that competition among fishing fleets is fierce, and the promise of these new habitat requirements could be lost if habitat concerns become enmeshed in the ongoing political battles for harvest allocations.

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Fish Habitat: Essential Fish Habitat and Rehabilitation

Fish Habitat: Essential Fish Habitat and Rehabilitation ◽

10.47886/9781888569124.ch22 ◽

1999 ◽

Keyword(s):

New England ◽

Human Activities ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Fish Habitat ◽

Coastal Development ◽

Habitat Characteristics ◽

Habitat Alteration ◽

Essential Fish Habitat ◽

Nontarget Organisms ◽

Fishery Resources

<em>Abstract</em> .—New England aquatic, estuarine, and marine environments are highly variable and present distinct habitat features that support a number of commercial, recreational, and nontarget organisms. The heterogeneous environmental conditions found throughout New England provide important habitat characteristics for the reproduction, development, growth, feeding, and sustainability of fishery resources. Organisms have specific ontogenetic requirements that demonstrate their evolutionary adaptation to particular riverine, inshore, and offshore habitats. Habitat alteration and disturbance occur due to natural processes and human activities. Human-induced chemical, biological, and physical threats to habitat can have direct and indirect effects on local fish and mollusk populations. Increases in coastal development and humangenerated pollutants entering the environment are major threats to marine and aquatic habitats and are a result of increasing human population. Human activities and direct habitat alteration (e.g., hydrologic modifications) can disrupt environmental processes and conditions, and pollutants are discharged from a variety of nonpoint and point sources including runoff and industrial discharge, respectively. The sustainability of fishery resources in the New England region depends upon the protection of essential fish habitat. This protection includes identifying and understanding all potential nonfishing threats, point and nonpoint pollutant sources, and anthropogenic activities and impacts.

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