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Our Living Oceans: Habitat

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Our Living Oceans: Habitat STATUS OF THE HABITAT OF U.S. LIVING MARINE RESOURCES U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service Our Living Oceans: Habitat i This publication may be cited as follows: NMFS. 2015. Our living oceans: habitat. Status of the habitat of U.S. living marine resources. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-75, 327 p. Also available online—http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/olohabitat/ (by chapter and as the full publication). doi: 10.7755/TMSPO.75 This publication has been in progress for several years, and working drafts or manuscripts of it, which may have been cited earlier, contained preliminary material and a slightly different title; also, earlier citations of this publication as “in-prep.” or “in press” may reference information that was subsequently updated before the publication was formally released. This final printed copy has been thoroughly reviewed and updated, and it should be cited as in the example above. Any earlier citations to NOAA Technical Memorandum F/SPO-75 should be double-checked against this final copy to ensure accuracy. A digital version of this final printed copy was posted online at the URL above in July 2015 with the page header showing the year 2014. The correct year for the header is 2015. The contents of the posted copy with the 2014 header are identical to this copy with the header corrected to 2015. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) does not approve, recommend, or endorse any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned in this publication. No reference shall be made to NMFS, or to this publication furnished by NMFS, in any advertising or sales promotion that would indicate or imply that NMFS approves, recommends, or endorses any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned herein, or which has as its purpose an intent to cause directly or indirectly the advertised product to be used or purchased because of this NMFS publication. Only the photographs in this publication that are credited to an agency of the U.S. Government are in the public domain. All others are under the copyright protection of the photographers and/or their employers. Photograph on the front and back covers and opposite page: bull kelp habitat and pile perch in the Big Creek Marine Reserve off the central California coast, © Steve Clabuesch, University of California at Santa Cruz. ii Our Living Oceans: Habitat Status of the Habitat of U.S. Living Marine Resources © Steve Clabuesch, UC Santa Cruz Clabuesch, © Steve July 2015 NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-75 U.S. Department National Oceanic and National Marine of Commerce Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service Penny Pritzker Kathryn Sullivan Eileen Sobeck Secretary of Commerce Under Secretary of Commerce Assistant Administrator for Oceans and Atmosphere for Fisheries and NOAA Administrator iii iv CONTENTS xiii FOREWORD xvii PREFACE Part 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 Overview 5 Habitat Areas 6 National Habitat-Use Patterns 6 National Trends in Habitat-Use Information 7 Habitat Status, Trends, and Issues 8 Habitat Protection and Restoration 9 Habitat Research Needs 10 Solutions—The Way Forward 11 References Cited PART 2 INTRODUCTION 17 Overview 20 Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Management 21 NOAA’s Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) Program 22 Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning 22 Importance of Habitat for Living Marine Resources 26 Summary of NMFS’ Responsibilities for Habitat 26 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 28 Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act 29 NOAA’s Habitat Blueprint 29 Other Mandates Related to Habitat v 30 How Much Habitat is Enough? 32 Current Status of the Science Underlying Habitat Assessment, and the Relationships Among Species, Habitats, and Ecosystems 32 How Do Species Use Habitat? 33 What is the Quantity of Usable Habitat? 35 What Factors Affect the Quantity and Quality of Available Habitat? 36 How are Species Abundances Affected by the Quantity and Quality of Habitat? 37 How Can the Structure and Function of Degraded Habitat be Restored? 38 Organization of This Report 42 References Cited and Sources of Additional Information PART 3 NATIONAL SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 49 Overview 50 Habitat Use by Federally Managed Fishery and Protected Species 51 Status of Habitat Knowledge 52 Habitat Status and Trends 53 Freshwater Habitats 53 Estuarine Habitats 54 Shallow Marine and Oceanic Habitats 56 Coastal Wetlands 57 National Habitat Issues 57 Water Quality 64 Water Quantity 66 Infrastructure in Aquatic Habitats 69 Fisheries 71 Other Commercial Uses of Marine Habitats 75 Environmental Issues 81 Habitat Fragmentation and Loss 82 Steps Being Taken to Protect and Restore Habitat 89 Federal Agencies, Organizations, and Programs that Support Habitat Protection, Restoration, and Science 89 NOAA 98 Other Federal Agencies 101 Research Needs 105 References Cited and Sources of Additional Information vi PART 4 REGIONAL SUMMARIES Northeast REGION 117 Habitat Areas 117 Gulf of Maine 120 Georges Bank 121 Mid-Atlantic Bight/Southern New England 123 Deep-Sea Coral Habitats 124 Habitat Use 125 Habitat Use by FMP Species 129 Habitat Use by Protected Species 131 Habitat Use by State-Managed and Non-FMP Species 133 Habitat Trends 133 Freshwater Trends 134 Estuarine and Coastal Habitat Loss and Fragmentation 136 Effects of Fishing Gear 137 Research Needs 137 Atlantic Salmon Ecology 138 Deep-Sea Corals 138 Effects of Fishing Gear on Benthic Ecosystems 138 Habitat Mapping 139 Invasive Species 139 Oyster Disease Control and Habitat Restoration 141 Protecting Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles from Ship Strikes and Fishing Gear 141 References Cited and Sources of Additional Information SOUTHEAST REGION 147 Habitat Areas 147 Freshwater Habitats 149 Estuarine Habitats 152 Shallow Marine Habitats 155 Oceanic Habitats 160 Habitat Use 162 Habitat Use by FMP Species 169 Habitat Use by Protected Species 171 Habitat Use by State-Managed and Non-FMP Species 173 Habitat Trends 173 Freshwater Quality and Quantity 173 Diversion of Freshwater Flow 173 Wetland Loss vii 175 Coastal Development 175 Flood Control 175 Coral Reefs 177 Eutrophication and Hypoxia 178 Research Needs 178 Estuarine Habitat Condition 179 Coral Reef Ecology 179 Habitat Mapping 179 Habitat Requirements of Adult and Early Life Stages of Commercially Important Fish and Invertebrates and Protected Species 181 Impacts of Severe Storms and Sea Level Rise on Fishery and Protected Species and Their Habitats 181 Habitat Restoration 183 Transboundary Biological and Oceanographic Linkages 183 Effects of Underwater Sound 183 Additional Research Needs 183 References Cited and Sources of Additional Information Pacific Coast REGION 189 Habitat Areas 190 Oregonian Province (Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington, to Point Conception, California) 194 San Diego Province (Point Conception, California, to Baja California Sur, Mexico) 195 Habitat Use 196 Habitat Use by FMP Species 202 Habitat Use by Protected Species 206 Habitat Use by Non-FMP, State-, and Internationally Managed Species 210 Habitat Trends 213 Research Needs 214 Pacific Salmon 214 Coastal Pelagic Fishes 215 Highly Migratory Species 215 Groundfish 216 Pinnipeds 216 Cetaceans 216 Sea Turtles 217 Protected Marine Invertebrates 217 Additional Research Needs 217 References Cited and Sources of Additional Information viii AlasKA REGION 223 Habitat Areas 225 Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 226 North Pacific Ocean (Gulf of Alaska) 227 Arctic Ocean 228 Habitat Use 229 Habitat Use by FMP Species 234 Habitat Use by Protected Species 237 Habitat Use by State-Managed, Non-FMP, and Internationally Managed Species 238 Habitat Trends 238 Research Needs 240 Essential Fish Habitat 241 Loss of Sea Ice 241 Oil and Gas Development 242 Ocean Acidification 242 Ecosystem-Based Approach to Management 243 References Cited and Sources of Additional Information Pacific IslandS REGION 249 Habitat Areas 252 Freshwater Habitat 253 Estuarine Habitat 253 Shallow Marine Habitat 254 Oceanic Habitat 255 Habitat Use 256 Habitat Use by MUS Groups Within the FEPs 257 Habitat Use by Protected Species 258 Habitat Use by State-Managed and Non-FMP Species 258 Habitat Trends 259 Invasive Species 260 Trends in MUS Species Habitat 262 Trends in Protected Species Habitat 262 Research Needs 263 Fishery Species 265 Protected Species 266 Invasive Species 267 References Cited and Sources of Additional Information ix PART 5 APPENDICES 273 Appendix 1 Acknowledgments 275 Appendix 2 Legislative Mandates for Habitat 279 Appendix 3 Current Fishery Management Plans and Fishery Ecosystem Plans 281 Appendix 4 Habitat-Use Table Methodology 285 Appendix 5 Common and Scientific Names of Species 325 Appendix 6 Abbreviations x TABLES Introduction 39 Table 1. Characteristics of geographic regions used in the OLO Habitat report. 40 Table 2. Definition of the habitat categories used in theOLO Habitat report. National Summary 51 Table 3. Use of the four major habitat categories nationwide. 58 Table 4. Habitat issues, potential solutions, and some examples of actions being taken. 103 Table 5. Recommendations from the Habitat Assessment Improvement Plan. 104 Table 6. The most critical needs for habitat-related research at the national level for all habitat types. Northeast REGION 125 Table 7. Use of the four major habitat categories in the Northeast Region. 137 Table 8. Overview of research needs for habitats in the Northeast Region. SOUTHEAST REGION 160 Table 9. Use of the four major habitat categories in the Southeast Region. 178 Table 10. Overview of research needs for habitats in the Southeast Region. Pacific Coast REGION 196 Table 11. Use of the four major habitat categories in the Pacific Coast Region. 214 Table 12. Overview of research needs for habitats in the Pacific Coast Region. AlasKA REGION 229 Table 13. Use of the four major habitat categories in the Alaska Region. 239 Table 14. Habitat-related research priorities from key planning documents. 240 Table 15. Overview of research needs for habitats in the Alaska Region. Pacific IslandS REGION 255 Table 16. Use of the four major habitat categories in the Pacific Islands Region.
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