Enhance Assessments to Achieve Habitat Conservation Objectives Under the Magnuson Act: Lessons Learned from Endangered Species Act Consultations

The Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) requires federal fisheries management plans to describe and identify “essential fish habitat” (EFH) for federally managed fish species. The MSA also directs NOAA, regional fishery management councils, and other federal agencies to cooperate to minimize, mitigate, or otherwise offset the adverse effects of their different activities on EFH. In many instances, federal agencies prepare EFH Assessments that are designed to identify the adverse effects of their actions on EFH. Lessons learned from more than 30 years of consultations conducted under the requirements of the federal Endangered Species Act suggest that enhancing EFH assessments would help achieve the habitat objectives of the MSA. Specific enhancements should include: clearer articulation of the standards and objectives of EFH Assessments; a formal assessment framework that explains how an action affects EFH and makes it easier to identify minimization and mitigation measures that logically extend from those effects; systematic and cumulative approaches to data collection and analysis; and increased compliance and effectiveness monitoring.