Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management Advisory Panel
Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management Advisory Panel (HE AP) role is to serve as the Council’s habitat contacts and professionals in the field. The AP provides guidance on habitat designations and threats. Activities include assisting the Council in identifying and specifying Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) and Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC), identifying threats to EFH and HAPC, and developing comments in response to activities that may impact EFH and HAPC. Additionally, the HE AP helps the Council develop policies on habitat and ecosystem-related issues to enable the Council to promptly respond to habitat activities. The HE AP also provides input on habitat and ecosystem research needs.
The HE AP is structured and tasked differently than the Council’s fishery advisory panels and is made up of four state sub-panels (one for each South Atlantic state) and other appointed participants who are not part of sub-panels. Each sub-panel is composed of representatives from the state marine fisheries agency, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and each’s state coastal zone management agency. Other members from each state include a conservationist and commercial and recreational fishermen. In addition to the members of the four state sub-panels, the HE AP also includes representatives from the EPA Region IV, NOAA Fisheries (Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Southeast Regional Office), the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the NMFS Habitat Conservation Division. The HE AP was expanded in recent years to include representatives from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the US Navy, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI)/Florida Atlantic University (FAU)/NOAA Cooperative Research Institute (COEIRT), and three at-large research positions. State sub-panels are tasked as needed depending on the scope of an issue.
The HE AP meets twice a year with a Spring and Fall meeting.
