STUDY TITLE: Regional Essential Fish Habitat Geospatial Assessment and Framework for 

Offshore Sand Features

REPORT TITLE: Regional Essential Fish Habitat Geospatial Assessment and Framework for 

Offshore Sand Features

OCS STUDY NUMBER: BOEM 2020-002

NUMBER OF PAGES: 367 (in four volumes)

CONTRACT NUMBER(S): M17PG00028

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Headquarters, Sterling, VA (Marine Minerals Program)

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA(S): Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico; North, Mid-, 

and South Atlantic, and the Straits of Florida

FISCAL YEAR(S) OF PROJECT FUNDING: FY2017–FY2020

COST(S) BY FISCAL YEAR: FY2017: $0; FY2018: $251,466; FY2019: $118,804; 

FY2020: $129,730

CUMULATIVE PROJECT COST: $500,000

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: January 2020

PROJECT MANAGER(S): J. Christopher Taylor

AFFILIATION OF PROJECT MANAGER: Biogeography Branch, Marine Spatial Ecology 

Division, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

ADDRESS: 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S)*: J. Christopher Taylor, Brad Pickens, Mark Finkbeiner, Deena 

Hansen, Lora Turner, Alexa Ramirez, Elizabeth Rogers

KEY WORDS: Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, Sand Shoals, Dredging, Geomorphology, Species 

Distribution Models, Fish, Shrimp, Sharks, Essential Fish Habitat

BRIEF ABSTRACT: The demand for marine sand resources is increasing in the United States, 

as coastal and offshore sands are commonly used for beach renourishment and barrier island 

restoration. The dredging of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), and sand shoals in particular, is 

likely to increase in the near future because nearshore sand resources are being depleted while 

demand increases due to renourishment cycles for beaches, emergency repairs of beaches 

after storms, and the projected effects of sea-level rise. The Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), as part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, is responsible for the 

management and development of energy and mineral resources on the OCS, including marine 

minerals. Concurrently, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act), written in 1976 and amended in 1996 and 2007, has the objectives of 

preventing overfishing, rebuilding overfished stocks, increasing long-term economic and social 
benefits, and ensuring a sustainable supply of seafood. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) is responsible for identification and protection of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) of 

federally managed marine and anadromous fishes during each of their life stages; EFH is 

necessary for the growth and reproduction of fish. Projects authorized or conducted by the 

Federal Government must consult with NMFS regarding EFH to ensure full consideration of the 

environmental effects and possible mitigation measures so that fish and their habitats are not 

adversely affected. This study follows a comprehensive literature review by Rutecki et al. (2014) 

on sand shoal geology, geography, and general biological value. Here, we concentrate on the 

attributes of sand dredging that relate directly to fish and EFH: potential impacts of dredging on 

fish, a synthesis of known fish habitat associations, and the development of predictive models to 

identify the location and types of shoals and distribution of fish species. These new data were 

then incorporated into an interactive mapping tool “ShoalMATE” that generates reports for the 

EFH consultation process.

BACKGROUND: The project covers the shallow waters of the OCS for the Atlantic and US Gulf 

of Mexico. More specifically, the landward boundary of the study area was defined by the Outer 

Continental Shelf Lands Act (1953), which distinguishes Federal and state jurisdictions (3 nm for 

all states except 9 nm for Gulf coasts of Florida and Texas). The oceanic boundary of the study 

area was defined by a 50-m contour line from NOAA’s Coastal Relief Model (NOAA National 

Centers for Environmental Information). Only waters ≤ 50 m deep were included in this study 

since dredge technology generally prohibits dredging in deeper waters. Throughout this report, 

we use the term "sand" to broadly characterize sediment resources, and we recognize that 

sediment dredging may include a variety of grain sizes depending on the application. The report 

is presented in four volumes.

KEY FINDINGS: Volume 1 “Fish Habitat Associations and the Potential Effects of Dredging on 

Fish of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf. A Literature Synthesis and Gap 

Analysis” summarizes the international scientific knowledge on the direct effects of dredging on 

fish and their habitats, as well as reviews the state-of-science on fish habitat associations. Sand 

and sediment dredging in the OCS of the Atlantic and US Gulf of Mexico has expanded in 

recent years as demand for sediments has increased. Marine sediment dredging occurs in 

shallow waters (≤ 50 m) and often utilizes sand shoals, where large volumes of sand can be 

efficiently extracted. With the goal of understanding the effects of dredging on fish, we first 

synthesize the known effects of sand dredging. This includes the potential dredging effects of 

hydraulic entrainment, underwater sounds, suspended sediments, and substrate removal. 

Secondly, fish habitat use and distributions are major determinants of dredging effects. A review 

of spatially explicit marine fish distribution models and habitat associations provides context for

understanding drivers of fish distributions potentially related to shoals. Documented regional 

habitat associations were also synthesized, specifically for federally managed species in the 

Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic OCS. 

Volume 2 “Shoal Identification and Classification of Sand Resources” comprises two 

components. First, we develop a predictive model for identifying and delineating potential sand 

shoals using broadly available unified digital elevation models for the seafloor along the Gulf of 

Mexico and Atlantic coastlines from 3 nm from shore to the 50-m depth contour. Seafloor 

complexity and relief metrics were derived from the Coastal Relief Model and used to predict 

areas of relative higher relief and produce polygons showing geomorphological features 

consistent with sand shoals, ridges, and swales. Maps depict bedforms, shoal complexes, and 

yet-unclassified features along the Gulf and Atlantic coastlines. Recognition of these features in 

the context of EFH and sand resource demand will aide in improved planning and permitting for 
sand dredging activities. We then classify these features and sand shoals according to a new 

scheme developed by subject matter experts in the field of geology, biology, and seafloor 

habitats during three facilitated workshops and webinars. This new classification scheme is 

proposed for adoption under the Coastal Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) as 

a new schema for classifying OCS sand features.

Volume 3 “Predicting the Distribution of Select Fish Species of the Gulf of Mexico, South 

Atlantic, and Greater Atlantic” presents the scientific analysis and results of predictive modeling 

for select federally managed fish. Species distribution models (SDMs) are a state-of-the-art 

statistical modeling approach that quantifies the relationships between species and spatially 

explicit environmental data. In this volume, we used a variety of fisheries-independent data 

sources in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic to produce SDMs for select marine fish and 

shrimp species. Environmental data on habitats included oceanographic conditions, 

geomorphology, geography, prey, and the nearby ecosystems of wetlands and estuaries. For 

the Greater Atlantic, we summarize NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center-developed

SDMs that combined trawl surveys with data on oceanographic conditions, substrate, and 

zooplankton. Species' relationships with geomorphology characteristics like shoals were limited 

and of minor importance compared to other habitat predictors. None of the Gulf of Mexico 

species examined were related to bottom currents, slope, or the heterogeneity of depth. Of 

minor importance in the models, white shrimp had a higher catch per unit effort (CPUE) farther 

away from shoals and pink shrimp were positively related to sand grain sizes. Red snapper age0 had a higher CPUE in close proximity to shoals and where the bathymetric position index 

predominately showed a hill topography. In the South Atlantic, none of the five species 

examined were associated with geomorphology characteristics. Overall, species' distributions 

were primarily related to oceanographic conditions, nearby wetlands and estuaries, and prey 

species. 

Volume 4 “Development of ShoalMATE: Shoal Map Assessment Tool for Essential Fish Habitat”

outlines the process and framework used to develop the interactive mapping tool, user interface,

and automated reporting of ShoalMATE (Shoal Map and Assessment Tool for EFH). 

ShoalMATE is a standardized reporting tool to facilitate better communication between BOEM 

and NOAA during EFH consultations required for dredging projects on the Outer Continental 

Shelf (OCS). Development began by understanding requirements from BOEM’s Marine 

Minerals Program and NOAA’s Habitat Conservation Division. A geodatabase architecture and 

workflow met the needs of access and usability for stakeholders with varying levels of familiarity 

with Geographic Information Systems. A shoal database was specifically designed for expedited 

queries within the front-end application. A subset of the data necessary to support the tool such 

as habitat descriptors, species models, lease areas, and shoals, were processed through a 

series of custom scripts to capture information within the delineated boundaries of each 

identified shoal. The front-end application presents summarized information at the level of the 

identified shoal, within a buffer around the shoal, and across the region. Maps and tables are 

displayed within the web interface and can be compiled into a template report, saved as a 

Microsoft Word document, that can be edited by analysts. The final result is a consistent EFH 

Assessement product across a range of geographies and project extents.

STUDY PRODUCT(S): 

Pickens BA, Taylor JC, editors. 2019. Regional Essential Fish Habitat geospatial assessment 

and framework for offshore sand features. Sterling (VA): US Department of the Interior, Bureau 

of Ocean Energy Management. OCS Study BOEM 2020-002 and NOAA NCCOS Technical 

Memorandum 270. 367 pp.
Pickens BA, Carroll R, Friedland K, Sheripa B, Costa B, Taylor JC. The emergence and 

maturation of species distribution models to predict habitat of marine fish [in preparation]. 

Pickens BA, Finkbeiner M, Hansen D, Turner L, Taylor JC. Identification of the extent of sand 

shoals on the coastal shelf of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico [in preparation].

Pickens BA, Carroll R, Taylor JC. Predicting the distribution of marine shrimp in the northern 

Gulf of Mexico using geomorphology, oceanographic conditions, and wetlands [in preparation].

Pickens BA, Driggers W, Campbell M, Taylor JC. Marine snappers and sharks are predicted by 

prey, wetlands, and estuaries in the northern Gulf of Mexico [in preparation]. 

Pickens BA, Bacheler N, Driggers W, Taylor JC. Predictive models of South Atlantic sharks and 

hard bottom fish [in preparation]. 

Professional presentations: Three presentations at regional and international symposia 

compiled into a single PDF file.

Map of study area: 

Study area (dark dashed line) is the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf 

federally managed waters less than 50-m depth. The 30-m depth contour (gray line) is shown 

as the current depth dredges can access.