[ODFW-News] Meetings explain federal designation process for essential fish habitat

[Odfw News]

For immediate release Wednesday, April 13, 2005
 
Meetings explain federal designation process for essential fish habitat

NEWPORT - Fisheries officials today announced three coastal meetings
this month, designed to help Oregonians learn more about the federal
process to establish fish habitat protection measures along the West
Coast. 

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Oregon State University
Extension-Sea Grant will host the meetings to outline the Essential Fish
Habitat designation process, in preparation for upcoming decisions by
the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) at its June meeting. 

"These meetings are meant to educate Oregonians about an important
federal decision-making process that will affect the Oregon coast," said
Patty Burke, ODFW Marine Resources Program Manager. 

The meetings, all beginning at 7 p.m., are scheduled in the following
locations: 
* April 18, in Bandon at the Bandon Community Center, City Park and 11th
St.
* April 19, in Newport at the Hatfield Marine Science Center Auditorium,
2030 SE Marine Science Drive
* April 20, in Astoria at the Duncan Law Seafood Consumer Center, 2021
Marine Drive.

"One of the objectives of the meeting is to bring the federal government
to the Oregon coast to explain this process and to have the state
present estimates of potentially displaced harvest from areas identified
in the document," said Dr. Hal Weeks, Marine Habitat Project Leader for
the Marine Resources Program. "We also will look at the possible
conservation benefits. Our goal is to maximize the involvement of the
Oregon public in this important federal decision-making process."

Identification of essential fish habitat, and adoption of measures to
minimize adverse impacts of fishing, are required by the 1996
Sustainable Fisheries Act. National Marine Fisheries Service staff will
be present to explain the federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
document for Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). NMFS staff will outline the
process for upcoming council decisions in June and at later PFMC
meetings in 2005 and 2006. 

Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) is defined as "those waters and substrate
necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding or growth to
maturity." EFH by itself does not carry fishery management significance,
but it does set up consultation requirements for other federal agencies
whose activities may affect EFH and allows the 
Pacific Fisheries Management Council to comment on those activities. 

Another set of options in the EIS describing measures to minimize
adverse impacts to EFH due to fishing, to the extent practicable, are
also required by the Sustainable Fisheries Act. Fourteen alternatives,
some with multiple options, are presented in the EIS. While most would
impact bottom trawling, some could potentially impact all fishing.

"We hope to provide a guide, from the state's perspective, to this
complex document and help the public understand how the federal EIS was
put together," Weeks added. "We also want to help facilitate public
comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service on the draft EFH EIS
options and to allow the public to ask questions of NMFS."

Comments on various options in the Essential Fish Habitat Environmental
Impact Statement may be submitted to the PFMC and National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) by May 11.
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