West Coast Groundfish FMP Final Rule

This map describes final conservation measures for Pacific Coast groundfish habitat. NMFS used GIS extensively in developing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for groundfish Essential Fish Habitat (EFH); acting on this EIS, the Pacific Fishery Management Council amended the Groundfish Fishery Management Plan with EFH provisions in 2006. For the EIS, GIS was used in the development of a coast-wide database to support temporal and spatial analysis of biological, physical, regulatory, and commercial fishery data. These data products fed a sophisticated Risk Assessment process that included habitat delineation and impacts models. Maps generated through a GIS were also an important communication tool between NMFS, the Council, and stakeholders.  

For more information, please visit the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Groundfish FMP Amendment 19 page at http://www.pcouncil.org/groundfish/gffmp/fmpthru19.html.