Forums
East Coast Forum
Habitat Considerations and EFH Authorities
June 27-28, 2013 • Annapolis, MD
The purpose of the 2013 East Coast Forum was to explore opportunities for regional fishery management councils to strengthen the integration of habitat science and considerations into the decision-making process
Forum Objectives
- Enhance understanding of the existing habitat authorities under the Magnuson-Stevens Act
- Discuss experiences with habitat related decision-making, focusing on the processes councils use to consider tradeoffs and evaluate options for designating Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), siting Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPCs), and minimizing adverse impacts
- Develop abilities to lead through communication by sharing and evoking stories and lessons learned through council experience
- Identify the steps councils have taken to monitor, prioritize and engage in consultations on non-fishing impacts to EFH
- Increase understanding of NOAA Fisheries initiatives to advance habitat science and policy through the Habitat Assessment Improvement Plan and Habitat Blueprint
- Explore habitat as the structural foundation of ecosystems, and examine the role of habitat in councils’ ecosystem-based management initiatives
- Consider outcomes from the habitat panel session at the third Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries Conference
Day 1 • Thursday, June 27th
Introduction
Habitat protections in the Magnuson-Stevens Act: Opportunities and requirements for habitat conservation
Terra Lederhouse, Marine Resource Habitat Specialist, NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation
Reflections on the history of habitat conservation and fisheries management
John Boreman, Adjunct Professor, North Carolina State University
Regional processes for EFH decision-making
An economic perspective on reducing adverse fishing effects: the Swept Area Seabed Impact Model
Chad Demarest, Economist, NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center
Artificial substrates as EFH: a Gulf of Mexico case study
Greg Stunz, Professor of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
The Pacific Council’s approach to EFH reviews: One size does not fit all
Kerry Griffin, Staff Officer, Pacific Fishery Management Council
Day 2 • Friday, June 28th
Advances in habitat science
Coordinating habitat science at NOAA Fisheries
Kirsten Larsen, National Habitat Science Coordinator, NOAA Fisheries Office of Science & Technology
OpenOcean 2013: Integrating habitat dynamics into population and ecosystem assessment
John Manderson, Research Fishery Biologist, NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center
Managing fisheries in the face of changing ecosystem productivity
Jason Link, NOAA Fisheries Senior Scientist for Ecosystem Management
Habitat and the third Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries Conference
NOAA’s Habitat Blueprint: Improving fisheries, marine life, and coastal communities through habitat conservation
Buck Sutter, Director, NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation
A historical perspective on habitat authorities
John Boreman, Adjunct Professor, North Carolina State University
Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum
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