NOAA Essential Fish Habitat Consultation Screener

Screen U.S. coastal and offshore project points or areas against official NOAA essential fish habitat (EFH) and Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC) GIS layers.

The Actor returns one structured screening record per project area, including intersecting managed species or management units, life stages, fishery management councils, NOAA regions, habitat metadata, source caveats, and official references.

Use it for early environmental-permitting triage. It is a planning tool, not a legal determination and not a replacement for project-specific review by NOAA Fisheries.

What does this Actor do?

The Actor accepts any mix of:

• WGS84 longitude/latitude points;
• WGS84 bounding boxes;
• GeoJSON Polygon geometries;
• GeoJSON MultiPolygon geometries.

For each project area it queries NOAA's public nationwide EFH layer and, by default, NOAA's HAPC layer.

It aggregates all intersections into a single project-level record, so a batch of 20 project areas produces 20 billable screening rows rather than hundreds of separately billed source features.

Who is it for?

This Actor is designed for:

• environmental consultants performing desktop constraints reviews;
• infrastructure and coastal-development teams screening candidate sites;
• permitting specialists preparing early agency-coordination notes;
• fisheries and marine-resource analysts checking EFH designations;
• GIS teams enriching project portfolios with official habitat context;
• due-diligence platforms that need a repeatable JSON screening step.

A typical workflow is to screen locations early, retain the source references and caveats, and send flagged projects for professional review.

Why use this NOAA EFH screener?

• Official source layers: spatial results come from NOAA-linked public ArcGIS services used for nationwide EFH and HAPC data.
• Three geometry modes: use a precise point, a fast bounding box, or a project-area Polygon/MultiPolygon.
• Project-level output: receive one integration-friendly record per submitted project.
• Consultation triage: quickly identify locations where project-specific EFH review may be warranted.
• Source transparency: retain source object IDs, plan/document references, URLs, and NOAA caveats.
• Bounded execution: explicit input and result limits prevent accidentally unbounded GIS requests.
• No browser or proxy required: the Actor uses anonymous structured GIS endpoints directly.

What NOAA Essential Fish Habitat data is returned?

Field	Meaning
projectId	Your project ID, or a generated positional ID
inputType	point, bbox, or geoJson
intersectsEssentialFishHabitat	Whether one or more EFH features intersect
consultationReviewRecommended	Planning flag for follow-up review, not a legal conclusion
habitatAreaOfParticularConcernPresent	Whether one or more HAPC features intersect
efhMatchCount / hapcMatchCount	Number of source features found
managedSpecies	Unique species or management-unit names
lifeStages	Unique life stages represented in EFH matches
fisheryManagementCouncils	Council codes or names in matching source records
noaaRegions	NOAA region values reported by the source
efhMatches	Detailed normalized EFH source records
hapcMatches	Detailed normalized HAPC source records
dataCaveats	Unique caveats copied from matching NOAA records
sourceReferences	Official mapper and layer links
resultsTruncated	Whether your per-layer safety limit was reached
screenedAt	UTC timestamp for the screening

Fields unavailable in a source feature are returned as null. Empty result groups are returned as empty arrays.

How to screen a project area

1. Open the Actor input page.
2. Add one or more objects to projectAreas.
3. Give each project a stable id for downstream joins.
4. Add exactly one geometry to each item: point, bbox, or geoJson.
5. Keep includeHapc enabled unless you only need EFH designations.
6. Run the Actor.
7. Review the default dataset and export it as JSON, CSV, Excel, or another supported format.
8. Treat flagged results and source caveats as inputs to professional project review.

The prefilled Boston Harbor point returns real EFH intersections and is a quick first-run test.

Input parameters

projectAreas

Required array with 1–100 project-area objects.

Each item supports:

• id — optional stable project identifier;
• name — optional display name;
• point — { "longitude": number, "latitude": number };
• bbox — [west, south, east, north];
• geoJson — a Polygon or MultiPolygon geometry object.

Supply exactly one geometry mode per item. All coordinates must use WGS84 longitude/latitude (EPSG:4326).

A GeoJSON Feature wrapper or FeatureCollection is not accepted; pass its geometry value.

includeHapc

Optional boolean, default true.

When enabled, the Actor also queries NOAA's Habitat Areas of Particular Concern layer and includes normalized HAPC details.

maxMatchesPerLayer

Optional integer from 1 to 10,000, default 2,000.

This is a per-project, per-layer safety limit. If matching source features exceed it, resultsTruncated is true.

Point input example

{
  "projectAreas": [
    {
      "id": "boston-harbor",
      "name": "Boston Harbor project point",
      "point": {
        "longitude": -71.05,
        "latitude": 42.35
      }
    }
  ],
  "includeHapc": true
}

Bounding-box input example

Bounding boxes use [west, south, east, north] order.

{
  "projectAreas": [
    {
      "id": "sf-bay-shoreline",
      "name": "San Francisco Bay shoreline",
      "bbox": [-122.52, 37.70, -122.34, 37.83]
    }
  ]
}

A box finds any habitat polygon intersecting any part of the box. It does not mean the full box is habitat.

GeoJSON area input example

{
  "projectAreas": [
    {
      "id": "tampa-bay-area",
      "name": "Tampa Bay project area",
      "geoJson": {
        "type": "Polygon",
        "coordinates": [
          [
            [-82.58, 27.88],
            [-82.50, 27.88],
            [-82.50, 27.94],
            [-82.58, 27.94],
            [-82.58, 27.88]
          ]
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Polygon rings must be closed: the first and last coordinate positions must match.

Output example

This shortened example reflects the Actor's current project-level output shape:

{
  "projectId": "boston-harbor",
  "projectName": "Boston Harbor project point",
  "inputType": "point",
  "queryGeometry": {
    "longitude": -71.05,
    "latitude": 42.35
  },
  "intersectsEssentialFishHabitat": true,
  "consultationReviewRecommended": true,
  "habitatAreaOfParticularConcernPresent": true,
  "efhMatchCount": 61,
  "hapcMatchCount": 1,
  "resultsTruncated": false,
  "managedSpecies": [
    "Atlantic Cod",
    "Atlantic Wolffish",
    "Winter Flounder"
  ],
  "lifeStages": ["ALL", "Adult", "Eggs", "Juvenile"],
  "fisheryManagementCouncils": ["MAFMC", "NEFMC"],
  "efhMatches": [
    {
      "sourceObjectId": 612,
      "speciesOrManagementUnit": "Atlantic Wolffish",
      "lifeStage": "ALL",
      "designationType": "EFH",
      "fisheryManagementCouncil": "NEFMC",
      "sourceDocumentUrl": "https://www.habitat.noaa.gov/application/efhmapper/oa2_efh_hapc.pdf#page=16",
      "dataCaveat": "Source-specific caveat copied from NOAA"
    }
  ],
  "screeningNotice": "Planning-level screening only. Confirm current information and next steps with NOAA Fisheries.",
  "sourceReferences": [
    {
      "title": "NOAA Essential Fish Habitat Mapper",
      "url": "https://www.habitat.noaa.gov/apps/efhmapper/"
    }
  ],
  "screenedAt": "2026-09-07T12:00:00.000Z"
}

The complete output preserves every matching EFH and HAPC record up to the selected safety limit.

Understanding the consultation indicator

consultationReviewRecommended: true means the supplied geometry intersects at least one EFH or HAPC source feature.

It does not determine:

• whether a federal action or permit nexus exists;
• whether consultation is legally required;
• whether the project will adversely affect EFH;
• what conservation recommendations may apply;
• whether local or newer project-specific mapping changes the result.

Use the indicator to prioritize review, not to replace legal, permitting, biological, or agency advice.

How much does it cost to screen NOAA Essential Fish Habitat?

Pricing uses one start event per run plus one screening event for each project-area result.

The current source configuration uses a $0.005 start fee. Project-screening prices vary by Apify plan:

Plan	Price per project-area screening
Free	$0.00736
Bronze	$0.00640
Silver	$0.004992
Gold	$0.00384
Platinum	$0.00384
Diamond	$0.00384

Bronze examples, including the start event:

• 1 project area: about $0.0114;
• 10 project areas: about $0.0690;
• 100 project areas: about $0.6450.

A project with no intersections still produces and charges one useful screening record. EFH features and HAPC features nested inside that result are not separately charged.

Apify platform-compute charges, subscription rules, taxes, or account-specific terms may also apply. Check the live Actor pricing panel before a large run.

Batch and scheduled workflows

Use stable id values to join outputs back to your project inventory.

Common repeatable workflows include:

• screening a portfolio of candidate coastal sites before detailed diligence;
• running the same project boundaries on a schedule and comparing saved datasets;
• routing only consultationReviewRecommended: true rows to a permitting queue;
• expanding efhMatches into a species-by-project table in your data warehouse;
• retaining screenedAt, source object IDs, references, and caveats for an audit trail.

The Actor does not itself send alerts or compare historical datasets. Use Apify schedules, webhooks, or your own pipeline for those steps.

API usage with cURL

Start a run through the Apify API:

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~noaa-essential-fish-habitat-consultation-screener/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "projectAreas": [
      {
        "id": "boston-harbor",
        "point": {"longitude": -71.05, "latitude": 42.35}
      }
    ],
    "includeHapc": true
  }'

For production integrations, prefer sending the token in an authorization header rather than storing it in source code or logs.

API usage with JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });

const run = await client.actor(
  'automation-lab/noaa-essential-fish-habitat-consultation-screener'
).call({
  projectAreas: [
    {
      id: 'sf-bay-shoreline',
      bbox: [-122.52, 37.70, -122.34, 37.83],
    },
  ],
  includeHapc: true,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items[0].consultationReviewRecommended);

API usage with Python

import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor(
    'automation-lab/noaa-essential-fish-habitat-consultation-screener'
).call(run_input={
    'projectAreas': [
        {
            'id': 'tampa-bay-area',
            'geoJson': {
                'type': 'Polygon',
                'coordinates': [[
                    [-82.58, 27.88], [-82.50, 27.88],
                    [-82.50, 27.94], [-82.58, 27.94],
                    [-82.58, 27.88],
                ]],
            },
        },
    ],
})

items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items
print(items[0]['managedSpecies'])

Use with MCP and AI assistants

Add the Actor to Claude Code through Apify MCP:

claude mcp add --transport http apify \
  "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/noaa-essential-fish-habitat-consultation-screener"

Claude Desktop setup

Add this server object to Claude Desktop's MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/noaa-essential-fish-habitat-consultation-screener"
    }
  }
}

Cursor setup

Open Cursor Settings → MCP, add a remote server named apify, and use the same URL from the JSON above.

VS Code setup

Add the same remote apify MCP URL through your VS Code MCP extension or workspace MCP configuration.

Example prompts:

• "Screen longitude -71.05, latitude 42.35 for NOAA EFH and summarize managed species and caveats."
• "Check this GeoJSON Polygon for EFH and HAPC intersections and list the responsible councils."
• "Run the NOAA EFH screener for these 25 project points and return only rows needing consultation review."

AI-generated summaries should preserve the Actor's planning-only notice and source caveats.

Export and integration patterns

The default dataset can be exported as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or JSONL through Apify.

Recommended patterns:

• keep the nested JSON output when preserving all source metadata;
• use projectId as the durable join key;
• flatten efhMatches in a warehouse when each species/life-stage record needs its own row;
• filter on resultsTruncated and rerun with a larger safe limit before relying on an incomplete set;
• store the source references with project decisions;
• trigger downstream review through an Apify webhook after successful runs.

CSV exports may serialize nested arrays and objects as JSON strings. JSON or JSONL is usually best for full-fidelity output.

Limits and reliability

• Each run accepts up to 100 project areas.
• Each area accepts exactly one geometry mode.
• GeoJSON is limited to Polygon and MultiPolygon geometry objects.
• Coordinates must be WGS84 longitude/latitude.
• Source matches are capped independently for EFH and HAPC by maxMatchesPerLayer.
• Requests time out after 30 seconds.
• Transient timeouts, HTTP 429, and HTTP 5xx responses receive up to three bounded attempts.
• Invalid inputs and deterministic source errors are not retried.
• The Actor returns one row even when a valid project has no intersections.

Large, highly detailed polygons increase request size and source processing time. Simplify boundaries to the precision needed for screening.

Data sources and freshness

The Actor queries public ArcGIS layers referenced by the NOAA EFH workflow at run time.

Primary references:

• NOAA Essential Fish Habitat Mapper
• Nationwide EFH ArcGIS layer
• Habitat Areas of Particular Concern ArcGIS layer

screenedAt records when the query ran, not when NOAA last revised every underlying designation.

NOAA source fields occasionally contain blanks, legacy labels, typographical errors, or broad mapping caveats. The Actor normalizes blank and Unknown text to null but does not rewrite substantive source content.

Responsible use and legal considerations

The Actor accesses public government GIS services without authentication.

Use it responsibly:

• keep request volume bounded;
• do not misrepresent a screening result as agency concurrence;
• preserve source caveats and references;
• confirm decisions against current NOAA guidance and project-specific facts;
• obtain qualified environmental and legal advice where appropriate;
• comply with Apify's terms and your applicable laws and contracts.

No personal data is requested or intentionally collected by this Actor.

Troubleshooting

Why did an inland project return no matches?

A valid no-match result is expected outside mapped coastal and marine EFH. The Actor still returns one row with zero counts and false intersection/review flags.

Why is resultsTruncated true?

The project intersected more source features than maxMatchesPerLayer allowed. Increase the limit within the supported range, or narrow/simplify the project geometry.

Why was my GeoJSON rejected?

Confirm that you supplied a Polygon or MultiPolygon geometry rather than a Feature or FeatureCollection, used longitude/latitude order, kept coordinates inside WGS84 bounds, and closed every ring.

Why does a bounding box return many species?

Every feature touching any portion of the box counts as an intersection. Use the actual project Polygon when a broad box creates too much screening noise.

Does consultationReviewRecommended mean consultation is required?

No. It means a source-layer intersection was found and project-specific review may be warranted. Legal applicability depends on facts this GIS screen does not determine.

What happens if NOAA's service is temporarily unavailable?

The Actor retries transient timeouts, rate limits, and server errors with bounded backoff. If the service remains unavailable, the run fails rather than returning a misleading empty result.

FAQ

Does the Actor return source geometry?

No. It sends your geometry for an intersection query but does not download the often-large source polygons. This keeps outputs and transfer costs practical.

Can I mix points, boxes, and GeoJSON in one run?

Yes. Each project item uses one geometry type, and a batch may mix all three.

Are HAPC matches separately charged?

No. EFH and HAPC details are included inside the single charged project-area screening result.

Can I turn off HAPC queries?

Yes. Set includeHapc to false when only nationwide EFH designations are needed.

Does the Actor cover projects outside the United States?

It accepts valid WGS84 coordinates, but its product scope and source layers are U.S. NOAA EFH screening. Locations outside source coverage normally return no matches.

Can this replace NOAA consultation tools or agency contact?

No. It automates an initial GIS intersection check and preserves references for follow-up.

Related Actors

• NOAA Storm Events Database Scraper — export historical NOAA storm-event records for hazard and incident analysis. It is a separate weather-history workflow, not an EFH consultation screen.

Combine related outputs only when each source is relevant to your project's documented diligence process.

Support

For reproducible help, include:

• a sanitized input geometry;
• the run ID;
• the project ID;
• whether HAPC was enabled;
• the full error message or unexpected field;
• what result you expected and why.

Do not include confidential project details when a generalized geometry or minimal reproduction is sufficient.