Review of the Fishing Gear Utilized within the Southeast Region and TheirPotential Impacts on Essential Fish Habitat

摘要

Habitat is increasingly recognized as critical to maintaining species diversityand supporting sustainable fisheries. The 1996 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnusen-Stevens Act) mandated that fishery management plans (FMPs) be amended to include the description and identification of essential fish habitat (EFH) for all managed species. The Magnuson-Stevens Act defined EPH as 'those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity.' The Magnuson-Stevens Act also required that adverse impacts on EFH resulting from fishing activities be identified and minimized to the extent practicable. In order to minimize adverse impacts on EFH resulting from fishery-related activities, an evaluation of the various fishing gear types employed within the jurisdictions of all Fishery Management Councils was necessary. This evaluation developed into a profoundly difficult obstacle given the paucity of readily available information on the numerous types of gear utilized within the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean. While there have been hundreds of studies published on gear impacts worldwide, the majority of these focus on mobile gear such as dredges and trawls.