Petition to List Lynn Canal Pacific Herring under the Endangered ...

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While NMFS and FWS biologists identified the importance of the coastline north of Juneau to the Lynn Canal Herring population, subsequent construction of roads, dock facilities and other developments, took their toll on the spawning areas. By the mid-1990s, the herring had retreated to only a few pristine areas in and around Berners Bay. In surveys conducted from 1953-1955, Skud (1959), documented major herring spawning areas throughout Southeast Alaska. Previous surveys in the Atlantic and North Sea indicated that patterns in distribution of herring schools could be extrapolated from spawning grounds. Skud (1959) explained: The prime objective of aerial surveys is to determine the mileage of beach used for spawning in a given area. The extent of spawn deposition is assumed to indicate size of spawning population. In addition comparison of annual changes in actual mileage, changes in areas used for spawning can be studied and may help to determine environmental requirements for spawning. Aerial surveys also afford a means of studying timing of spawning activities. (Skud 1959: 1-2). From three years of flying around Southeast Alaska, Skud (1959) characterized the regional population structure of Pacific Herring and also documented a much greater area receiving herring spawn that has occurred in the last three decades. Skud (1959) compared his work with that of an earlier survey of Pacific Herring in Southeast Alaska conducted by Rounsefell (1930) for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. Spawning has been observed by air on 20 of the 57 spawning beaches listed by Rounsefell, and 82 new beaches have been located since 1953. Extensive aerial surveys, rather than an increase in beaches actually used for spawning, probably explain the large number of new spawning discovered. (Skud 1959). Thus, the increase in recorded spawning beaches from 1930 to the 1950s was in fact attributable to the aerial survey methodology and extensive survey effort, not to an increase in actual spawning areas. However, Skud (1959) did find that many of the beaches that were reported to receive herring spawn by Rounsefell (1930), no longer received any herring spawn in the 1954. For Lynn Canal Herring, Skud (1959) showed that spawning beaches at Idaho Inlet, Mud Bay, Flynn Cove and Port Frederick no longer received herring spawn (See Figure 5 and Table 1). These four areas are outside of Lynn Canal in an area known as Icy Strait (See Figure 5 and Table 1). An aerial survey conducted by the ADFG on May 5, 2005 reported Pacific Herring only in a small cove south along the coastline outside of Berners Bay. Lynn Canal: Surveyed last on May 3. Herring were observed inside Bridgett Cove but no spawn or herring were seen in other areas of Lynn Canal including Berners Bay. 16
(ADFG 2005-Juneau Update #10). A survey from May, 16 2006 revealed that Lynn Canal Herring had failed to spawn in Berners Bay for the second consecutive year. Mondays survey revealed that the Lynn Canal herring spawn event was all but over. A couple of light spawns were documented at the southern entrance to Bridgett Cove and two spot spawns were documented on the southwest side of Mab Island. No other spawn was observed in the area. Many gulls and scoters are active in the areas of prior spawn, particularly the Point Bridgett area. No herring spawn was documented on Tuesdays survey although many schools of herring were observed in the Auke Bay boat harbor area and in Tee Harbor. Approximately 4 nautical miles of shoreline have received herring spawn in the Lynn Canal/Berners Bay area to date. For the second consecutive year, no herring spawn was documented on the eastern shoreline of Berners Bay north of Cascade Point. (ADFG 2006-Juneau Herring Update 12). 17
Page 1 and 2: BEFORE THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE PE
Page 3 and 4: NOTICE OF PETITION Carlos M. Gutier
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction.....
Page 7 and 8: V. Vulnerability to Extinction ....
Page 9 and 10: INTRODUCTION The Lynn Canal populat
Page 11 and 12: define Pacific Herring along North
Page 13 and 14: Lynn Canal Herring Figure 4: Major
Page 15 and 16: Herring schools concentrated at 52
Page 17 and 18: e) Larval and Juvenile Rearing Habi
Page 19 and 20: For a comparison, Abookire et al. (
Page 21 and 22: II. ABUNDANCE AND TREND OF LYNN CAN
Page 23: Cascade Point and adjacent areas of
Page 27 and 28: Skud (1959) Table 1: Spawning beach
Page 29 and 30: A single DPS that includes the popu
Page 31 and 32: Leon (1993) detected statistically
Page 33 and 34: (USFWS-NMFS 1980: 7). Carlson showe
Page 35 and 36: tolerance optima. Locally different
Page 37 and 38: Sockeye Salmon, Waples et al. (1991
Page 39 and 40: themselves. Likewise, Lynn Canal He
Page 41 and 42: definable area (Booke, 1981); and (
Page 43 and 44: Based on the results of the present
Page 45 and 46: eflect recent colonization historie
Page 47 and 48: demonstration of monophyly, which a
Page 49 and 50: present and threatened destruction,
Page 51 and 52: supplies to and from the mine. The
Page 53 and 54: (NMFS 2005: 107). a) Contamination
Page 55 and 56: 2. Juneau Access Improvement Projec
Page 57 and 58: (Holmberg 1996). The Field Supervis
Page 59 and 60: Figure 11: Cumulative impacts of de
Page 61 and 62: A NMFS species profile for Pacific
Page 63 and 64: The unifying feature between two di
Page 65 and 66: net air-sea CO2 exchange, fishery y
Page 67 and 68: population’s reproductive potenti
Page 69 and 70: Described sounds fall into three ca
Page 71 and 72: The ESA requires the NMFS to use th
Page 73 and 74: Blejwas, K.M. and E.A. Mathews. 200
Page 75 and 76:
Hay, D.E., P.B. McCarter, and K.S.
Page 77 and 78:
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Other-Marin
Page 79 and 80:
Defining and implementing best avai
Page 81 and 82:
analysis showed that over 99% of th
Page 83 and 84:
One important result of this study
Page 85 and 86:
Esquimault Harbour / Portage Inlet
Page 87 and 88:
studies. However, beyond the genera
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Petition to List Lynn Canal Pacific Herring under the Endangered ...

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