Three fishery management councils – the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and U.S. Caribbean – are responsible for identifying essential fish habitat (EFH) for federally managed species in the southeast United States. Fish require healthy surroundings to survive and reproduce. Essential fish habitat includes all types of aquatic habitat – wetlands, coral reefs, seagrasses, mangroves – where fish spawn, breed, feed, or grow to maturity. This map allows you to visualize where EFH is located in the Gulf of Mexico by fishery management plan, but to really get the most out of the map use the pin or draw tool to see which EFH layers exist in any area of the Gulf. Launch map