Looking Ahead for Habitat Assessments in NOAA Fisheries

In 2010 NOAA Fisheries published the Marine Fisheries Habitat Assessment Improvement Plan (HAIP), which set the strategy for pursuing habitat science and assessments for ecologically sound management of U.S. marine fish stocks and their habitats.  Habitat, the place where species live, is characterized by the physical, chemical, biological, and geological components of the ocean environment; habitat science is the study of relationships among species and their environment; and habitat assessments are the compilation, analysis, and publication of this information.  High-priority goals of the HAIP are to reduce habitat-related uncertainty in stock assessments and improve the ability to identify Essential Fish Habitat and Habitat Areas of Particular Concern.

Significant progress has been made on several objectives, but progress has been uneven, garnering support is a continuing challenge, and evolving circumstances are affecting future directions.  The Agency is developing a Next Generation Stock Assessment Framework that will incorporate environmental and multi-species effects, including habitat and climate, and is committing to Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management, which considers many factors, including habitat and humans, as ecosystem components.  The technology for habitat mapping and researching species-habitat relationships is rapidly evolving. The goals, objectives, and strategies for advancing habitat assessments are discussed within these evolving contexts.