WCR_HMS_EFH_20241021_Common_thresher_shark

Common thresher shark EFH is defined using a combination of data sources described in the FMP as well as expert opinion. While common thresher sharks may occur in shallow water <12 m, they occur primarily in deeper waters, seaward of 12 m, and these shallow regions including enclosed bays and estuaries are not considered essential. Including all age classes, common thresher shark EFH includes the U.S. West Coast EEZ from the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S.-Canada border, to approximately 100 nautical miles offshore, seaward of the 12 m depth contour. While small schooling fish appear to be their preferred prey, diets vary temporally and spatially and include squid and crustaceans. The high productivity and presence of diverse small schooling fish, squid and crustacean species and relatively warm shallow shelf waters make the California Current, out to approximately 100 nautical miles, a suitable habitat for feeding and growth to maturity for common thresher sharks.The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) requires that regional management councils describe EFH in their fishery management plans (FMPs), that they minimize to the extent practicable adverse effects on EFH from fishing activities, and that federal agencies consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service on activities that may adversely affect EFH, among other things. Actions that occur outside of EFH, but that may adversely affect EFH, also warrant an EFH consultation. EFH means those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity (50 CFR 600.10). FMPs must describe and identify EFH in text that clearly states the habitats or habitat types determined to be EFH for each life stage of the managed species, if possible. The text descriptions are ultimately determinative of the limits of EFH. Those text descriptions of HMS EFH can be found in the HMS FMP available on the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) website: https://www.pcouncil.org/. In addition, FMPs must include maps that display, within the constraints of available information, the geographic locations of EFH or the geographic boundaries within which EFH for each species and life stage is found (50 CFR 600.815(a)(1)(v)(A)). This Geographic Information System (GIS) data which depicts the EFH of HMS within the EEZ off the U.S. West Coast, was developed to meet that requirement.

{
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[
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/WCRO > West Coast Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "WCR Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Essential Fish Habitat"
]

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