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

2. Juneau Access Improvement Project
The proposed construction of a major highway from Juneau to Skagway by the
State of Alaska and the Federal Highway Administration threatens some of the last
remaining spawning areas for Lynn Canal Herring. The Juneau Access Improvements
Project (JAIP) is planned to cut along the coastline on the eastern shore of Berners Bay
(FHWA 2006a, 2006b). Increased runoff and access will degrade the spawning beds.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Juneau Access Improvement
Project indicates that Lynn Canal Pacific Herring are a primary concern and an
“unresolved issue.”
NMFS, EPA, and OHMP have expressed concern that the cumulative marine
traffic in Berners Bay associated with Alternatives 3, 4B, and 4D in conjunction
with Kensington Mine and Goldbelt activities could have an adverse effect on the
Lynn Canal herring stock. Both NMFS and OHMP believe special conservation
measures, including no operations during the herring spawning period, would be
necessary.
(FHWA 2006a: S-18)
The Record of Decision for the JAIP selects Alternative 2B (FHWA 2006b). This
alternative will consist of a 50.8-mile long highway from the end of Glacier Highway at
Echo Cove to a point north of the Katzehin River delta. A new ferry terminal will be
constructed at the northern end of the new highway, with shuttle ferry service to both
Skagway and Haines from the new terminal (FHWA 2006b). A total of approximately
36 acres of intertidal and subtidal marine habitat will be filled or dredged for construction
of Alternative 2B (FHWA 2006b).
The impact of the road project on Lynn Canal Herring was analyzed in the FEIS,
but highway and shoreline developments are cited as only one factor in the decline of the
herring. Use this cumulative threats argument, the JAIP FEIS discounts the negative
effects of the proposed highway.
Comment: The highway would lead to herring die off in Berners Bay similar to
what occurred with the Auke Bay herring fishery. This would result in a collapse
to the food-web.
Response: The EFH Assessment (Appendix N of the Final EIS) discusses the
possible causes of the decline of the Auke Bay herring fishery in relation to the
potential for similar impacts in Berners Bay from highway and/or ferry terminal
construction and operation. While the cause of the Auke Bay herring decline is
unknown, the most likely factors are loss of spawning habitat and overfishing.
Alternative 2B would not involve any construction below the high tide line
adjacent to herring habitat, and in these locations a vegetated upland buffer will
be retained. Also, because most of the land adjacent to Berners Bay herring
spawning habitat is under a USFS management plan that does not allow
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