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

tolerance optima. Locally differentiated selective pressures would consequently
lead to selection against dispersal between spawning locations of differing salinity
conditions, and may provide an adaptive explanation for the homing behavior
reported in herring tagging studies (reviewed by McQuinn 1997).
(Bekkevold et al. 2005).
Furthermore, in contrast to other parts of the world, herring populations in the
eastern Pacific, from California to the Bering Sea, consist of a relatively large number of
small populations (Hay et al. 2001b). These individual populations are locally adapted to
their spawning areas (Stokebury et al. 1999).
The short term spatial variability in juvenile Pacific herring growth suggested that
each bay was a unique nursery area and that the juveniles within these bays were
isolated. This differs from other research on herring life history which suggests
that there is a great deal of mixing both in the nursery areas and feeding grounds
while segregation occurs only during the spawning and early larva stages (Iles
1971, Iles & Sinclair 1982, Sinclair et al. 1985). The physical and biological
conditions within each bay appear to dictate the Pacific herring growth rate.
(Stokesbury et al. 1999)(emphasis added).
2. Significant Gap in Range
The Lynn Canal Pacific Herring historically inhabited all of Lynn Canal and the
adjacent areas of Icy Strait and northern Stephens Passage (See Figures 4 and 5). This
area constitutes a significant portion of the range of the taxon, whether the taxon is
identified as the species C. pallasi or the subspecies C. pallasi mirabilis.
This petition considers the relevant taxon for this DPS significance factor to be a
subspecies of the Pacific Herring and not the Pacific Herring species as a whole. As
discussed earlier, Grant and Utter (1984) indicated: 1) an eastern North Pacific
subspecies of Pacific Herring, C. p. mirabilis, is described for the area from the Bering
Sea to California (See Figure 3), and 2) the Bering Sea herring are genetically
distinguished from rest of the herring to the south in North America, possibly dividing C.
p. mirabilis into at least two races or subspecies. Therefore, this petition concludes that
the range of the taxon may include: 1) the area from the Bering Sea to California, or 2)
the area from the Gulf of Alaska to California, or 3) a smaller area in thenorthern Gulf of
Alaska.
There is no specific number or percentage required by the DPS Policy in
determining what is a significant gap in a species’ range. Based on the overall
importance of herring to the ecosystem, the adaptive potential of each herring population,
and the uncertain taxonomy of Pacific Herring, the area historically occupied by Lynn
Canal Herring qualifies as a significant gap in the range of the taxon.
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