Certain fishing practices may harm sensitive habitats. NOAA Fisheries
has dedicated significant effort to studying the effects of various
fishing gears as they relate to decreases in productivity, survival,
or recruitment of managed fish species. Examples of adverse effects
from fishing practices can include alteration of the physical terrain
from bottom-tending gear, chemical modifications to the sediment
and over-lying water column, and biological changes to the benthic
community, such as removal of prey species. NOAA Fisheries is engaged
in numerous research projects to improve understanding of the effects
of fishing on EFH, including impacts from mobile gears, such as
trawls and dredges, and from certain types of fixed gears, such
as fish traps.
Adverse effect means any impact that reduces the quality and/or
quantity of EFH. Adverse effects may include direct or indirect
physical, chemical, or biological alterations of the waters or substrate
and loss of, or injury to, benthic organisms, prey species and their
habitat, and other ecosystem components. The adverse effects of
fishing practices to EFH may result from actions occurring within
or outside of EFH, and may include site-specific or habitat-wide
impacts. Fishery management councils must act to prevent, mitigate,
or minimize any adverse effects from fishing, to the extent practicable,
if there is evidence that a fishing activity affects EFH in a manner
that is more than minimal and not temporary in nature.
All 47 existing Fishery Management Plans have measures, such as
area closures, gear restrictions, and harvest limits that control
fishing effort and thus provide benefits to EFH. Ongoing efforts
include designating habitat areas of particular concern (HAPCs),
including habitat protection objectives in the development of new
Fishery Management Plan amendments, and implementing alternatives
for minimizing the adverse effects of fishing gear. For example,
NOAA Fisheries, working in conjunction with the National Marine
Sanctuaries program, has established a 180-square nautical mile
marine reserve in the Dry Tortugas. Fishing and the anchoring of
fishing vessels has been prohibited in the reserve, which includes
Riley’s Hump, the sole spawning ground for Mutton snapper.
In New England, the use of “street sweeper” gear has
been banned since 1999. New England trawl fishermen had begun to
attach the stiff-bristled brush cylinders from street sweepers to
their trawls, allowing them to catch fish more efficiently, but
potentially damaging bottom habitats in the process. NOAA Fisheries
is continuing to work with the fishery management councils to develop
additional measures to conserve EFH as more research data on fishing
gear impacts become available.
