Essential Fish Habitat (EFH)

Authorized by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, EFH are those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity. "Waters" include aquatic areas and their associated physical, chemical, and biological properties that are used by fish and may include aquatic areas historically used by fish, where appropriate; "substrate" includes sediment, hard bottom, structures underlying the waters, and associated biological communities; "necessary" means the habitat required to support a sustainable fishery and the managed species' contribution to a healthy ecosystem; and "spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity" covers a species' full life cycle.