NOAA Fisheries Alaska Essential Fish Habitat and Supplemental Habitat Datasets

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires the description and identification of essential fish habitat (EFH) for species included in federal fishery management plans (FMPs). NMFS Alaska Region provides a collection with EFH maps, supporting data, and supplemental habitat datasets.

Alaska EFH maps are developed by species’ life history stages within the spatial extent of the fishery management units of the FMPs. The data included varies by FMP, representing EFH based on species survey distribution maps developed through analysis of species distributions from fishery independent surveys and fishery observer data (Scallop FMP), cumulative frequency distribution model maps developed through analysis of species survey data and environmental covariates (Salmon FMP), and species distribution model maps developed through analysis of species data from fishery independent surveys or fishery observer data and environmental covariates (Groundfish, Crab, and Arctic FMPs). The EFH mapping data available in this collection include GIS files (geodatabases, shapefiles, raster files) that are organized by FMP with supporting documents. The EFH maps and supporting data are updated with the completion of an EFH 5-year Review.

One of the challenges for understanding EFH in Alaska’s nearshore is the extensive and complex coastline (~55,000 km) with a diversity of estuarine and marine habitats. Supplemental datasets in this collection are Alaska ShoreZone, Shore Station, and the Nearshore Fish Atlas of Alaska (NFAA).

ShoreZone is an aerial imaging, coastal habitat classification and mapping system used to inventory alongshore and across-shore geomorphological and biological attributes of the shoreline. The georeferenced, oblique, low altitude aerial imagery is acquired during the lowest tides of the year and then used to classify habitat attributes into a searchable database. Alaska ShoreZone data in this collection include videos, video still images, photos, GIS files (geodatabase and shapefiles), data dictionary, protocol, and flight plans.

Shore Station is a compilation of data collected during low tide surveys from hundreds of intertidal sites throughout coastal Alaska. Survey data include observed species, species assemblages, geomorphic features (e.g., sediment, substrate, bedform), beach length, slope, specific elevation profiles. Shore Station data in the collection include photos, GIS files (geodatabase and shapefiles), and supporting documentation.

The NFAA is a centralized, relational database of nearshore fish surveys, providing data on the distribution, relative abundance, and habitat use of nearshore fishes in Alaska. This dataset includes numerous nearshore surveys collected by various agencies and organizations over the past several decades with different objectives and gear types (e.g., beach seines, purse seines, and trawls). NFAA data in the collection include photos, GIS files (geodatabase and shapefiles), and supporting documentation.