Jodi Pirtle
72:21 - 73:03
“The MSA requires that federal fishery management plans describe and identify EFH, minimize to the extent practicable adverse effects on EFH caused by fishing, and identify other actions to encourage the conservation enhancement EFH.”
- Speaker
- Jodi Pirtle
- Timestamp
- 72:21 – 73:03
- Community
- Alaska News
- Location
- Alaska
- Captured at
- October 20, 2026
From the transcript
An introduction to the EFH statutory requirements. The Magnuson-Stevens Act defines EFH as those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity. The MSA requires that federal fishery management plans describe and identify EFH, minimize to the extent practicable adverse effects on EFH caused by fishing, and identify other actions to encourage the conservation enhancement EFH. In other words, we must identify EFH for species with the Federal Fishery Management Plan, evaluate whether federal fisheries are having more than a minimal or temporary adverse effect on EFH at the population level for the species, and act as warranted. And NMFS has published guidelines in the Federal Register for how to implement these MSA regulations linked here.
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