Fish Habitat: Essential Fish Habitat and Rehabilitation

L. Benaka, editor

400 pages Published by American Fisheries Society Publication date: 1999

Summary

Symposium 22: Proceedings of the Sea Grant symposium "Fish Habitat: Essential Fish Habitat and Rehabilitation," August 26-27, 1998, in Hartford, Connecticut.

Reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Sustainable Fisheries Act, SFA) in October 1996 brought unprecedented attention to essential fish habitat (EFH) in marine and estuarine systems of the United States. The SFA required Fishery Management Councils to define those waters and substrate necessary for fish for spawning, feeding, or growth to maturity for more than 600 fish stocks and to amend their management plans accordingly by October 1998. Threats to EFH from fishing and nonfishing activities, as well as steps to ameliorate those threats, also had to be identified by October 1998.

These requirements unleashed intense habitat-related activity within the councils, agencies of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and interested conservation groups. With the October 1998 deadline in mind, leaders of the American Fisheries Society, Sea Grant, and other agencies decided to sponsor a major symposium of fish habitat research in general and EFH policy in particular. The symposium was held during August 1998 in Hartford, Connecticut. In 27 chapters, this symposium proceedings presents the findings and conclusions of scientists and policy makers who have been working on EFH policy and Sea Grant-funded researchers who have been studying fish habitat.

The book presents a wide variety of studies by leading fish habitat researchers. Fisheries biologists from the National Marine Fisheries Service describe the process of EFH identification for mid-Atlantic summer flounder and Pacific Northwest salmon. Remote sensing of fish habitat in Oregon and Florida is covered, as are several studies of fishing gear impacts on fish habitat in the United States and United Kingdom. Threats to habitat and habitat rehabilitation projects are described for estuarine fishes of the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of Maine and for a variety of species including American lobster, spiny lobster, and oysters. A section on Great Lakes habitat includes studies of artificial reefs and pike habitat. The book also presents thought-provoking perspectives on EFH from representatives of leading governmental and nongovernmental organizations concerned with fisheries management.

This book is intended for:

* fisheries biologists * fisheries managers * conservation biologists * students

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction

Foreword Ronald C. Baird

Part One: Essential Fish Habitat Perspectives

Introduction Ronald C. Baird

Essential Fish Habitat: Opportunities and Challenges for the Next Millennium Rolland A. Schmitten

An Environmentalist's Perspective on Essential Fish Habitat Cynthia M. Sarthou

Conserving Fish Habitat from the Seafood Perspective Richard E. Gutting, Jr.

Impacts of Mobile Fishing Gear: The Biodiversity Perspective Elliott A. Norse and Les Watling

Part Two: Essential Fish Habitat Identification

Introduction John A. Musick

Nekton Densities in Shallow Estuarine Habitats of Texas and Louisiana and the Identification of Essential Fish Habitat Thomas J. Minello

Life History, Habitat Parameters, and Essential Habitat of Mid-Atlantic Summer Flounder David B. Packer and Tom Hoff

Identification of Essential Fish Habitat for Salmon in the Pacific Northwest: Initial Efforts, Information Needs, and Future Direction Philip Roni, Laurie A. Weitkamp, and Joe Scordino

Habitat Suitability Index Modeling to Delineate Essential Fish Habitat in Florida Estuaries Peter J. Rubec, Jennifer C. W. Bexley, Henry Norris, Michael S. Coyne, Mark E. Monaco, Stephen G. Smith, and Jerald S. Ault

Measures of Juvenile Fish Habitat Quality: Examples from a Estuarine Research Reserve Kenneth W. Able

Part Three: Fishing Impacts on Fish Habitat

Introduction Ann Bucklin

The Effects of Fishing on Fish Habitat Peter J. Auster and Richard W. Langton

Fishermen's Perspectives on Fishing Gear Impacts Judith Pederson and Madeline Hall-Arber

Importance of Benthic Habitat Complexity for Demersal Fish Assemblages Michel J. Kaiser, Stuart I. Rogers, and Jim R. Ellis

The Significance of Seabed Disturbance by Mobile Fishing Gear Relative to Natural Processes: A Case Study in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island Joseph DeAlteris, Laura Skrobe, and Christine Lipsky

Part Four: Nonfishing Impacts on Fish Habitat

Introduction Robert Stickney

Fish Habitat and Coastal Restoration in Louisiana R. Glenn Thomas

Remote Sensing of Forest-Clearing Effects on Essential Fish Habitat of Pacific Salmon Nina M. Kelly, Don Field, Ford A. Cross, and Robert Emmett

Addressing Nonfishing Threats to Habitat through Public and Private Partnerships Paul A. Heikkila

Habitat-Based Assessment of Lobster Abundance: a Case Study of an Oil Spill J. Stanley Cobb, Michael Clancy, and Richard A. Wahle

Human-Induced Nonfishing Threats to Essential Fish Habitat in the New England Region Anthony R. Wilbur and Michael W. Pentony

Part Five: Fish Habitat Rehabilitation and Socioeconomic Issues—Focus on the Great Lakes

Introduction Carlos Fetterolf

Fish Habitat and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: Moving from Opportunism to Scientifically Defensible Management John H. Hartig and John R. M. Kelso

Artificial Reefs in Lake Erie: Biological Impacts of Habitat Alteration David O. Kelch, Fred L. Snyder, and Jeffrey M. Reutter

The Economic Value of a Great Lake Artificial Reef: A Case Study of the Lorain County, Ohio, Artificial Reef Leroy J. Hushak, David O. Kelch, and Sophia J. Glenn

Identifying Habitats Essential for Pike Esox lucius L. in the Long Point Region of Lake Erie: a Suitable Supply Approach Charles K. Minns, Susan E. Doka, Carolyn N. Bakelaar, Peter C. E. Brunette, and William M. Schertzer

Part Six: Fish Habitat Rehabilitation and Socioeconomic Issues

Introduction Scott Holt

Fish Utilization of Restored and Created Salt Marsh Habitat in the Gulf of Maine Michele Dionne, Fred Short, and David Burdick

Coastal Wetland Restoration and Its Potential Impact on Fishery Resources in New England Mark D. Minton

A Case for Shelter Replacement in a Disturbed Spiny Lobster Nursery in Florida: Why Basic Research Had to Come First William F. Herrnkind, Mark J. Butler IV, and John H. Hunt

The Role of Oyster Reefs as Essential Fish Habitat: A Review of Current Knowledge and Some New Perspectives Loren D. Coen, Mark W. Luckenbach, and Denise L. Breitburg

Symposium Overview, Conclusions, and Future Directions Lee R. Benaka