In addition to understanding how each valued fish species uses habitats, other activities also impact habitats. Fish closure areas and fishing effort are closely tied to habitat usage. Marine protected areas, areas of special environmental concern, human use areas (sea lanes, mining, disposal of dredged materials, etc.), and migratory patterns of species of concern are some of the spatial data that can be integrated into a GIS and used to analyze habitats and their function. The basic elements include physical, chemical, geological, and biological oceanographic characteristics over time. The ecosystem and habitats of interest comprehensively constitute the area from small streams used by anadromous fish to the seafloor (including the water column), which is an enormous area affected by varied physical, biological and chemical processes.