Fish Habitat Outcome:Logic & Action Plan

Chesapeake Bay Program partners have committed to taking a series of specific actions to support the management approaches guiding this outcome. These actions directly address the factors that could impact our progress. More information about performance targets and participating partners can be found in the complete Logic & Action Plan.

Download Logic & Action Plan (.pdf)

Completed Actions

  • In December 2015, the Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team (with support from Tetra Tech) developed a detailed literature review of the habitat requirements and threats for 13 lesser studied Chesapeake Bay species. These requirements and threats have been organized into two matrices: one matrix of habitat requirements and threats for all 13 species, and one matrix of habitat requirements and threats for the egg to larval life stages of these species.
  • In July 2016, the Fish Habitat Action Team published an inventory of tools, maps and datasets related to fish habitat.
  • In April 2017, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chesapeake Bay Office published a research summary on the impacts of hardened shorelines on aquatic resources.
  • The Fish Habitat Action Team has received funding for a workshop that will identify representative species for different habitats in the tidal and non-tidal Chesapeake Bay. Using these representative species, experts will evaluate the factors that influence habitat function and provide criteria to qualify these factors’ significance.

Watershed-Wide Actions

Ongoing

  • Communicating the value of fish habitat to Chesapeake Bay Program partners and stakeholders.
  • Examining existing assessments of fish habitat and incorporate elements of these studies into the planning and organization of a fish habitat assessment for the Chesapeake Bay.

2018

  • Determined the decision support and data needs of government agencies, non-governmental organizations and local community members engaged in the conservation and restoration of fish habitat.
  • Planned and convened a workshop to support the evaluation of fish habitat conditions and stressors in the Chesapeake Bay. Developed a workshop report and other deliverables.

2019

  • Explored options for geospatially overlaying data collected through assessments of fish habitat in the Chesapeake Bay.
  • Worked with the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Forage Action Team to complete and share the results of our work to understand the impacts hardened shorelines have on forage abundance, diversity and health and to determine the threshold beyond which proposed shoreline hardening should not be approved.