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NOAA Fisheries Alaska Essential Fish Habitat and Supplemental Habitat Datasets

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: May 06, 2026 at 06:48 AM | Dataset Last Updated: December 04, 2025 at 12:00 AM
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.

Resources

16 resources available

  • NOAA NCEI Direct Download for Shore Zone Imagery and Video

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  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

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  • Granule Search

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  • https://doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-afsc-357

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  • https://doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-afsc-360

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  • https://doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-afsc-373

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  • https://apps-afsc.fisheries.noaa.gov/Publications/AFSC-TM/NOAA-TM-AFSC-236.pdf

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    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.25923/y5gc-nk42

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  • https://doi.org/10.25923/ffnc-cg42

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  • https://doi.org/10.25923/ygdf-5f65

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  • https://meetings.npfmc.org/CommentReview/DownloadFile?p=47fbbddc-1790-46bd-b1c1-ceff260d3a55.pdf&fileName=C4%20Arctic%20Marsh%20Advancing%20Model%20Based%20EFH.pdf

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  • https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/map/alaska-essential-fish-habitat-mapper

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  • https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=66d51e1a1c34468bb766f6ec1b6f58d9

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  • GCMD Keyword Forum Page

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  • NCEI Contact Information

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  • NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center (NMFS/AFSC) website

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0287396 0292741 0304727 0307021 biological data FISHERY SURVEY HABITAT images

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
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describedByType application/octet-steam
description 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.
distribution 
                                            [
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    "description": "2018 EFH Review SDM EFH Tech Memos Bering Sea",
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    "title": "https://doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-afsc-360",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-afsc-360",
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    "description": "2018 EFH Review SDM EFH Tech Memos Aleutian Islands",
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    "title": "https://apps-afsc.fisheries.noaa.gov/Publications/AFSC-TM/NOAA-TM-AFSC-236.pdf",
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    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "description": "A Refined Description of Essential Fish Habitat for Pacific Salmon Within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in Alaska",
    "downloadURL": "https://apps-afsc.fisheries.noaa.gov/Publications/AFSC-TM/NOAA-TM-AFSC-236.pdf",
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    "title": "https://doi.org/10.25923/y5gc-nk42",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.25923/y5gc-nk42",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "2023 EFH Review SDM EFH Tech Memos Bering Sea",
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    "title": "https://doi.org/10.25923/ffnc-cg42",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.25923/ffnc-cg42",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "2023 EFH Review SDM EFH Tech Memos Aleutian Islands",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "title": "https://doi.org/10.25923/ygdf-5f65",
    "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.25923/ygdf-5f65",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "2023 EFH Review SDM EFH Tech Memos Gulf of Alaska",
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  },
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://meetings.npfmc.org/CommentReview/DownloadFile?p=47fbbddc-1790-46bd-b1c1-ceff260d3a55.pdf&fileName=C4%20Arctic%20Marsh%20Advancing%20Model%20Based%20EFH.pdf",
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    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Arctic Draft under agenda item C4",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/map/alaska-essential-fish-habitat-mapper",
    "accessURL": "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/map/alaska-essential-fish-habitat-mapper",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Alaska Essential Fish Habitat Mapper Landing Page",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=66d51e1a1c34468bb766f6ec1b6f58d9",
    "accessURL": "https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=66d51e1a1c34468bb766f6ec1b6f58d9",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
    "accessURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
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    "description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Contact Information",
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    "description": "Institution web page",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions/iso/xml/NMFS-AFSC-EFH-AK.xml
issued 2024-01-19T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "0287396",
  "0292741",
  "0304727",
  "0307021",
  "biological data",
  "FISHERY SURVEY",
  "HABITAT",
  "images",
  "INDIVIDUAL FISH EXAMINATION - LENGTH",
  "SEDIMENTS",
  "species abundance",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION",
  "WATER TEMPERATURE",
  "camera",
  "seine",
  "trawl",
  "aerial photography",
  "biological",
  "imagery",
  "in situ",
  "survey - biological",
  "NOAA Fisheries",
  "NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center",
  "NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Office",
  "Arctic Ocean",
  "Beaufort Sea",
  "Bering Sea",
  "Bering Sea - Coastal Waters of Western Alaska",
  "Bering Sea - Norton Sound",
  "Chukchi Sea",
  "Chukchi Sea - NW Coast of Alaska",
  "Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia",
  "Gulf of Alaska",
  "North Pacific Ocean",
  "Prince William Sound (Gulf of Alaska)",
  "oceanography",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS > National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/AFSC > Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > AGRICULTURE > AGRICULTURAL AQUATIC SCIENCES > FISHERIES",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > MARINE SEDIMENTS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > WATER TEMPERATURE",
  "Fish Atlas Photos",
  "Nearshore Fish Atlas: Combined results from multiple nearshore biological surveys, reporting.",
  "ShoreZone: Coastal Habitat Mapping Program capturing geomorphic and biological attributes of Alaska's coastline, surveyed at low",
  "The Alaska Shore Station Database is a compilation of data collected since 2002 during low tide surveys from hundreds of interti",
  "area of occupied habitat",
  "Analyzed Aerial Photography and video",
  "nets (e.g. beach seine, trawl-bottom)",
  "survey samples",
  "CAMERA > CAMERA",
  "NETS > NETS",
  "TRAWL",
  "Alaska commercial scallop gear",
  "Low tide, oblique aerial imagery",
  "Multiple Gear types",
  "NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-AFSC-239",
  "bottom trawl",
  "site survey",
  "surface trawl and purse seine",
  "OCEAN > ARCTIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > ARCTIC OCEAN > BEAUFORT SEA",
  "OCEAN > ARCTIC OCEAN > CHUKCHI SEA",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN > BERING SEA",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN > GULF OF ALASKA",
  "Arctic Ocean",
  "Bering Sea",
  "Chukchi Sea",
  "Coastal Waterways of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia",
  "Gulf of Alaska",
  "North Pacific Ocean",
  "Prince William Sound",
  "3JGFJ3",
  "9GLTLP",
  "EDJACN",
  "KB7GN5"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2025-12-04T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "https://doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-afsc-357",
  "https://doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-afsc-360",
  "https://doi.org/10.7289/v5/tm-afsc-373",
  "https://apps-afsc.fisheries.noaa.gov/Publications/AFSC-TM/NOAA-TM-AFSC-236.pdf",
  "https://doi.org/10.25923/y5gc-nk42",
  "https://doi.org/10.25923/ffnc-cg42",
  "https://doi.org/10.25923/ygdf-5f65",
  "https://meetings.npfmc.org/CommentReview/DownloadFile?p=47fbbddc-1790-46bd-b1c1-ceff260d3a55.pdf&fileName=C4%20Arctic%20Marsh%20Advancing%20Model%20Based%20EFH.pdf",
  "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/map/alaska-essential-fish-habitat-mapper",
  "https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=66d51e1a1c34468bb766f6ec1b6f58d9"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial -130.0,47.0,-175.0,75.0
temporal 1964-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/1964-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
title NOAA Fisheries Alaska Essential Fish Habitat and Supplemental Habitat Datasets

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