Incorporation of Habitat Science into Ecosystem Based Fishery Management in the Mid-Atlantic

The Mid-Atlantic Council is developing an Ecosystem Based Fishery Management Guidance Document which is intended to introduce ecosystem considerations in the Council's management actions in an evolutionary fashion. The Council's goal is to enhance species-specific management programs with broader ecosystem considerations and management policies that coordinate Council management across its fishery management plans and relevant ecosystems. Since ecosystem based management involves the adoption of "placed based" management strategies, habitat science will play a key role in the Council's ecosystem based management program. The Council will continue to pursue traditional approaches to addressing habitat issues including spatial/temporal mapping of habitat to inform the definition of ecological production units for management consideration. The Council has also endorsed the development of habitat assessments as part of the development of an overall assessment of the state of Mid-Atlantic ecosystems. In addition, the Council is pursing the incorporation of regional habitat assessments into contemporary stock assessments, both at the single-species and ecosystem levels.  Finally, the Council recognizes the importance of the continued development of habitat science relative to habitat conservation and management within the broader arena of coastal and marine spatial planning.  Using habitat science for management purposes will depend on the development of clear, actionable habitat conservation objectives.