Description: Locations of commercial and recreational shellfishing harvest areas, including shellfish restoration activities and areas closed to shellfishing. In Connecticut, shellfish are defined as oysters, clams, mussels and scallops; either shucked or in the shell, fresh or frozen, whole or in part.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: Areas where pinnipeds occur in higher concentrations and/or significant areas that support pinnipeds (e.g. particular haul-out locations, feeding areas). Pinniped species found on Long Island include Harbor, Grey, Harp, Hooded, and Ringed seals.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: Areas where sea turtles and other reptiles occur in higher concentrations and/or significant areas that support sea turtles and other reptiles (e.g. particular feeding areas, nesting grounds, hibernation areas). Includes sea turtle species common in the Sound such as Loggerhead, Kemp’s Ridley, and Green, as well as a different species of turtle, the Northern diamondback terrapin. Diamondback terrapins are not sea turtles, but are more similar to terrestrial and aquatic turtle species and live in coastal wetlands.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: Areas where wild, natural sessile-mollusk-dominated communities occur. Sessile-mollusk-dominated communities are assemblages of non-mobile gastropods (e.g., slipper shells) and bivalves (e.g., blue mussels, clams) that are not harvested by humans.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: Areas where birds are abundant or diverse including feeding areas; areas of high bird productivity including nesting areas with focus on seabird species that are expected to use the open-water habitats of Long Island Sound. For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: This shows the summer “high bird species richness” modelling sub-component of the Blue Plan Birds ESA. It depicts the top 20% of summer predicted bird species richness from preliminary models developed by the University of Connecticut.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: This shows the winter “high bird species richness” modelling sub-component of the Blue Plan Birds ESA. It depicts the top 20% of winter predicted bird species richness from preliminary models developed by the University of Connecticut.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: This shows the “key areas for roosting, foraging, wintering” expert mapping component of the Birds ESA. It depicts areas important to bird roosting, foraging, wintering identified through expert participatory mapping.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: This shows the “key areas for staging, nesting, and foraging” expert mapping component of the Birds ESA. It depicts areas important to bird staging, nesting, and foraging identified through expert participatory mapping.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: Areas where cetaceans occur in higher concentrations and/or significant areas that support cetaceans (e.g. particular feeding areas, nursery grounds). Cetaceans include whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: Areas of high mobile invertebrate abundance and concentration. Mobile invertebrates include large benthic crustaceans like lobster and crabs, as well as pelagic invertebrates such as squid. “Overlaps” value indicates the number of sublayers present.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Decopod Biomass Fall 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for five decapod species (Blue crab, flat claw hermit crab, lady crab, rock crab, and spider crab) from the LIS Trawl Survey. These were mapped and considered together as a group due to similarities in their biology, habitat preferences, and catchability in the trawl survey. The data reflect the top quintiles forthe Fall Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Decopod Biomass Spring 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for five decapod species (Blue crab, flat claw hermit crab, lady crab, rock crab, and spider crab) from the LIS Trawl Survey. These were mapped and considered together as a group due to similarities in their biology, habitat preferences, and catchability in the trawl survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Decopod Biomass Fall 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for five decapod species (Blue crab, flat claw hermit crab, lady crab, rock crab, and spider crab) from the LIS Trawl Survey. These were mapped and considered together as a group due to similarities in their biology, habitat preferences, and catchability in the trawl survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Decopod Biomass Spring 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for five decapod species (Blue crab, flat claw hermit crab, lady crab, rock crab, and spider crab) from the LIS Trawl Survey. These were mapped and considered together as a group due to similarities in their biology, habitat preferences, and catchability in the trawl survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Horseshoe Crab spawning
Display Field: Id
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Represents predicted horseshoe crab spawning use classifications for Connecticut beaches. These data were included in Connecticut’s 2015 Wildlife Action Plan Key Habitats and Communities. High and medium use beaches were considered ecologically significant.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Horseshoe Crab Biomass Fall 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for horseshoe crabs from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Horseshoe Crab Biomass Spring 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for horseshoe crabs from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Horseshoe Crab Biomass Fall 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for horseshoe crabs from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Horseshoe Crab Spring Biomass 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for horseshoe crabs from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Lobster Thermal Refuge
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: This layer represents those LIS Trawl Survey grid cells where projected future temperatures remain within American lobsters’ tolerance (between 12-20°C) from July to September for at least 32% of the time. This threshold was chosen because between 2002-2012 temperatures remained between 12-20°C from July to September for ~32% of the time and allowed for some American lobster survival.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Lobster Biomass Fall 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for American lobster from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Lobster Biomass Spring 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for American lobster from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Lobster Biomass Fall 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for American lobster from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Lobster Biomass Spring 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for American lobster from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Squid Biomass Fall 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for long-finned squid from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall Seasons across 1995-2004 .
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Squid Spring Biomass 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for long-finned squid from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Squid Biomass Fall 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for long-finned squid from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Mobile Invertebrates: Squid Spring Biomass 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high biomass for long-finned squid from the LIS Trawl Survey. The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: Areas of high fish persistence and high fish abundance and concentration. The fish criterion includes species using water column habitats (i.e., diadromous and pelagic species), and seafloor habitats (i.e., demersal species). “Overlaps” value indicates the number of sublayers present.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Fish: Demersal High Weighted Persistence
Display Field: Value
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high weighted fish persistence for species using seafloor habitats (i.e., demersal species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall and Spring Seasons across two decades (1995-2004 & 2005-2014).
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Fish: Water Column High Weighted Persistence
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high weighted fish persistence for species using water column habitats (i.e., diadromous and pelagic species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall and Spring Seasons across two decades (1995-2004 & 2005-2014).
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Fish: Demersal Fall Abundance 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high abundance for fish species using seafloor habitats (i.e., demersal species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Fish: Demersal Spring Abundance 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high abundance for fish species using seafloor habitats (i.e., demersal species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Fish: Demersal Fall Abundance 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high abundance for fish species using seafloor habitats (i.e., demersal species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Fish: Demersal Spring Abundance 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high abundance for fish species using seafloor habitats (i.e., demersal species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Fish: Water Column Fall Abundance 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high abundance for species using water column habitats (i.e., diadromous and pelagic species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles forthe Fall Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Fish: Water Column Abundance Spring 1995-2004
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high abundance for species using water column habitats (i.e., diadromous and pelagic species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons across 1995-2004.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Name: ESA - Fish: Water Column Fall Abundance 2005-2014
Display Field: gridcode
Type: Feature Layer
Geometry Type: esriGeometryPolygon
Description: Depicts areas of high abundance for species using water column habitats (i.e., diadromous and pelagic species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles for the Fall Seasons across 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: Depicts areas of high abundance for species using water column habitats (i.e., diadromous and pelagic species) from data derived from the CT DEEP Marine Fisheries Long Island Sound Trawl Survey (LISTS). The data reflect the top quintiles for the Spring Seasons 2005-2014.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)
Description: Depicts the overlaps among the criteria that contribute to “Ecologically Significant Areas of high natural productivity, biological persistence, diversity, and abundance.” It is important to note that this represents the best available knowledge about the location of ESA, and if a map doesn’t depict ESA, it does not mean that one does not exist there. Therefore, composite maps for ESA should be viewed as the “minimum number of ESA”, so a value of 5 corresponds to at least 5 ESA present in a location.
For more information on the data sources used and the creation of this layer, please refer to The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, Appendix 2 – Ecologically Significant Areas.
Copyright Text: Long Island Sound Blue Plan (CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, 2019)