This panel provides an overview of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) consultation requirements and directions on how to use the Inland EFH Mapping tool for the Southeast Region (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina). This Inland EFH Mapping tool should be used as a guide to help inform users which locations may require an EFH consultation for a given project on coastal-, estuary-, or tributary-adjacent land.

This tool responds to three styles of input:

Option 1: Left click with your mouse or touch your touch screen device on your specific area of interest.

Option 2: In the search bar located at the top left-hand corner of the map, enter GPS coordinates (latitude, longitude) or select "current location", which will appear after clicking in the search bar box.

Option 3: Select the draw icon located at the top left corner of the map. Here, you can draw a project area to see if any EFH is found within the scope of the project bounds. Once the draw icon is selected, start the shape by left click/touching somewhere on the map, and continue click/touching new points until you have your desired project area and shape. Rapidly double click/touch to finish drawing your area. Your query will show for the entire area. To exit out of draw mode, simply select the draw icon again, now represented by an "X".

Interpreting the results:

After selecting your area/location, a window will pop up on the map explaining whether an EFH consultation is required, possible, or not required. The habitat(s) found at the location will display, followed by a list of species that may be found in that location.

A CSV is available to download for your point of interest. To download this information to your computer, click the "Download CSV" button located at the bottom left of the results window pop up. This CSV will include the species that may be found in a particular location. Information includes common names, scientific names, life stages, minimum/maximum depth and salinity, and relevant comments.

This mapping tool is not a comprehensive EFH repository. Offshore EFH boundaries are not included in this tool. The focus of these layers is inland habitat along coastline, estuaries, and tributaries. Species and life stage boundaries may extend off the coast further than depicted. Life stages with offshore habitat ranges are not included in these layers. Please refer to the National Essential Fish Habitat Mapper for offshore EFH boundaries.

If you require an EFH consultation, depending on the location of your project, use the contact information found here to connect with the appropriate EFH personnel.

For general EFH consultation information related to the Southeast Region, please contact the Southeast Region Essential Fish Habitat Coordinator.

*This EFH web mapper is a tool to assist in the EFH consultation process and should not be used as the sole source to determine whether a NMFS EFH consultation should be conducted.