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

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establish a pulp mill at Echo Cove. JGSC has members residing in nearly every community of S.E. Alaska with approximately 275 of these members residing in the communities of Lynn Canal. NMFS has jurisdiction over this Petition. This Petition sets in motion a specific process, placing definite response requirements on NMFS. Specifically, NMFS must issue an initial finding as to whether the Petition “presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.” 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(3)(A). NMFS must make this initial finding “[t]o the maximum extent practicable, within 90 days after receiving the petition.” Id. Petitioners need not demonstrate that listing of the Lynn Canal Herring is warranted, rather, Petitioners must only present information demonstrating that such listing may be warranted. While Petitioners believe that the best available science demonstrates that listing of the Lynn Canal Herring as threatened or endangered is in fact warranted, there can be no reasonable dispute that the available information indicates that listing the species as either threatened or endangered may be warranted. As such, NMFS must promptly make a positive initial finding on the petition and commence and complete a status review as required by 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(3)(B). Petitioners also request that critical habitat be designated for the Lynn Canal Herring concurrently with the species being listed as threatened or endangered, pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1533(a)(3)(A) and 50 C.F.R. § 424.12. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1 I. Species Account...................................................................................................................... 2 A. Species Description............................................................................................................. 2 B. Taxonomy ........................................................................................................................... 2 C. Geographic Distribution and Habitat.................................................................................. 3 1. Range-wide Distribution................................................................................................. 3 2. Southeast Alaska............................................................................................................. 4 3. Lynn Canal Herring ........................................................................................................ 4 a) Summer Feeding Areas............................................................................................... 6 b) Fall Migration ............................................................................................................. 6 c) Wintering Areas.......................................................................................................... 6 d) Pre-spawning Aggregations and Spawning Locations ............................................... 7 e) Larval and Juvenile Rearing Habitat........................................................................... 9 D. Life History of Pacific Herring........................................................................................... 9 1. Reproduction and Development ..................................................................................... 9 2. Feeding Behavior and Diet ........................................................................................... 10 3. Homing, Straying and Site Fidelity .............................................................................. 11 II. Abundance and Trend of Lynn Canal Herring ..................................................................... 13 III. Qualification of Lynn Canal Herring as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act ............................................................................................................... 20 A. The USFWS-NMFS Distinct Population Segment (DPS) Policy..................................... 20 1. Cherry Point Pacific Herring DPS Determination........................................................ 20 B. Application of the DPS Policy to Lynn Canal Herring..................................................... 21 C. Discreteness ...................................................................................................................... 22 1. Genetically Distinct ...................................................................................................... 22 2. Physiologically Distinct................................................................................................ 22 3. Morphologically Distinct.............................................................................................. 23 4. Distinct Spawning Time and Location ......................................................................... 24 5. Distinct Wintering and Summer Feeding Location and Migration .............................. 24 D. Significance....................................................................................................................... 26 v
Page 1 and 2: BEFORE THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE PE
Page 3: NOTICE OF PETITION Carlos M. Gutier
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 and 24: Cascade Point and adjacent areas of
Page 25 and 26: (ADFG 2005-Juneau Update #10). A su
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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