Fish Habitat: Essential Fish Habitat and Rehabilitation
L. Benaka, editor
400 pages
Published by American Fisheries Society, 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