Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Planning in the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Process

Coastal and marine resources and the habitats that support them are important to many groups in the mid-Atlantic region for a variety of reasons. The Council will use its role in the fishery management process to forge broader discussions about coastal and marine ecosystems, current and projected human activities, and the full array of available resource management approaches and tools to improve habitat and ecosystem health in the mid-Atlantic ocean. Specifically, the Council plans to engage in broader discussions related to new policy (the President's National Ocean Policy), broader perspectives (ecosystem approaches based on regional priorities), new tools (coastal and marine spatial planning, integrated ecosystem assessments, ecosystem models), and new partnerships (related to ocean energy, offshore aquaculture, or others) to identify projects that advance our collective efforts to enhance, protect, and restore habitat and ecosystems.  In this presentation, the challenges and opportunities associated with habitat science, ecosystem-based fishery management, coastal and marine spatial planning, ecosystem modeling and related efforts to provide healthy mid-Atlantic fisheries will be discussed.