Essential Fish Habitat's Role in Fisheries Management of Pacific Coast Groundfish
In: Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, Jg. 15 (2000), S. 67
academicJournal
Zugriff:
Introduction Prior to 1996, United States federal fishery management plans ("FMP") were not required to contain measures that identified and described fish habitat and protected it from the impacts of fishing and non-fishing activities. 1 Yet, fish habitat was as vital to sustaining fishing then as it is now, as "seventy-five percent of recreationally and commercially exploited marine fish species depend on coastal waters, particularly estuaries, during some stage of their life cycle." 2 In recognizing the importance of habitat in sustaining federal fisheries, Congress passed the Sustainable Fisheries Act ("SFA"), 3 which amended the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 4 ("Magnuson Act") to include essential fish habitat ("EFH") identification and protection provisions. The Magnuson Act defines EFH as "those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding or growth to maturity." 5 Essential fish habitat is disturbed by fishing and by non-fishing activities such as navigation channel dredging. However, fishing activities, such as bottom trawling, can severely impact benthic dwelling animals, particularly those not exposed to regular natural disturbances. Bottom trawling occurs with great frequency in the world's oceans, affecting an estimated area the size of the world's continental shelf every two years. 6 Yet, despite the area of the seafloor affected by bottom trawling each year, "[a] lack of understanding of the ecological consequences of removals of fish, and the direct effects of fishing and fishing gear on community and ecosystem functions, have produced questions about the sustainability ...
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Essential Fish Habitat's Role in Fisheries Management of Pacific Coast Groundfish
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | SPRTEL, FRANK M. |
Zeitschrift: | Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, Jg. 15 (2000), S. 67 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2000 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
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