Contact: Gordon Helm               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEAS
                                   12/17/97

New guidelines to assist regional fishery management councils as they identify, conserve, and enhance essential fish habitats in federal fishery management plans have been issued as interim final regulations by the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.

The regulations are a central component of the fisheries service's efforts to implement the essential fish habitat mandates under the new Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act amendments approved by Congress in its last session. The new rule also includes procedures to coordinate and consult with federal and states agencies on activities that may adversely affect essential fish habitats in order to promote their conservation and enhancement.

"From Alaska and Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, many fish population declines can be attributed to lost wetlands and seagrass beds, dammed rivers, contaminated sediments, polluted coastal bays, and other habitat loss or degradation," said Rolland Schmitten, director of the fisheries service. "The essential fish habitat provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act were developed to meet the ecological and economic imperative to address the nations' habitat problems before the finfish and shellfish that depend on them disappear."

The regulations prepared by the fisheries service will be used by the eight regional fishery management councils to describe and identify essential fish habitat for each of the species managed under 39 fishery management plans across the nation. Using the best scientific information available, essential fish habitat must be identified for all life stages of each species managed under council fishery management plans. Activities that have the potential to damage that habitat, including those caused by fishing, must also be identified, as well as conservation and enhancement measures.

In addition, the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that federal agencies consult with the Secretary of Commerce, through the fisheries service, on any of their activities that may adversely affect essential fish habitat. The fisheries service is charged with providing federal and state agencies with recommendations to conserve and enhance essential fish habitat. To carry out this mandate, the fisheries service will use appropriate existing environmental review procedures. Candidate existing environmental review procedures include those conducted pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, wetlands permitting under the Clean Water Act, hydro project licensing under the Federal Power Act, and environmental impact analyses conducted under the National Environmental Policy Act. If appropriate review procedures do not exist, the new regulations establish procedures to implement these consultation requirements.

"Only through the coordination and cooperation of federal and state agencies, industries, fishing groups, conservation groups and the general public will the fisheries service and the councils be able to stem the tide of deteriorating fish habitats," said Schmitten. "As a result, the new regulations stress inter-agency cooperation and the development of proactive partnerships to promote the conservation and enhancement of essential fish habitat."

The interim final rule reflects full consideration of more than 220 comments received during the 77 day public comment period, as well as public comments received during six public meetings held across the country. By issuing interim final regulations, the agency is soliciting additional comments on the rule for 60 days. The rule, however, takes full effect after 30 days to ensure that the Secretary and councils can proceed with amending fishery management plans.

Major Highlights of the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Interim Final Rule

     The objective of the EFH program is to conserve and enhance habitats 
       necessary to support the fish populations that provide sustainable 
       fisheries and contribute ecologically to healthy ecosystems.

     EFH should be identified in a "risk-averse" manner using the best 
       information available.  For fish stocks that are overfished, or 
       listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species 
       Act, EFH may represent all habitats used by these species.  For 
       fish stocks that are not overfished, EFH will be that
       portion of their habitats that are considered essential to produce 
       a sustainable fishery and the species contribution to a healthy 
       ecosystem.

     Councils must assess the impacts of fishing practices on EFH and 
       minimize, to the extent practicable, adverse effects on EFH caused 
       by fishing through management measures contained in their fishery 
       management plans.

     The coordination and consultation procedures maximize the use of 
       appropriate existing environmental reviews, e.g., the Endangered 
       Species Act, etc., to satisfy the federal consultation 
       requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and to ensure a
       streamlined process that avoids duplication.

     Under the EFH consultation provisions, the fisheries service can 
       recommend modifications for federal or state actions that may 
       adversely impact EFH, for the purpose of conserving marine, 
       estuarine, and anadromous fish habitats.

     All federal and state actions that may adversely affect EFH may 
       be addressed, including those in upland areas that contribute to 
       increased sedimentation, harmful algal blooms, oxygen depletion or 
       "hypoxia" (as seen in the Gulf of Mexico), fish kills from 
       Pfiesteria or other pathogens, or otherwise degrade water or 
       habitat quality.