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

and herring biomass in Berners Bay and Lynn Canal. Although it is possible that
the herring would shift elsewhere to spawn, there is no documented instance
where dislocated spawners have shifted to a new spawning location (Trumble
1983). Additionally, Pacific herring often exhibit homing behavior, with some
herring returning to the same spawning grounds year after year, though some may
change spawning areas between years (Hay et al. 2001). Therefore, herring that
are dislocated from the Cascade Point spawning site might seek out suitable
habitat elsewhere in the bay, or they may attempt to spawn on the breakwater or
within the degraded Cascade Point terminal site. Without sufficient information
on herring behavior and their ability to adjust to changes in spawning habitat, it is
impossible to predict with certainty how their behavior will be modified. The
extent to which the loss of current spawning habitat at Cascade Point might cause
additional population-level declines in herring biomass is also unknown but the
possibility of such impacts should not be discounted.
(NMFS 2005a: 111-113).
4. Cumulative Effects of Increased Industrial
Developments in the Region
According to the NMFS (2005a), the Biological Opinion for the Kensington
Mine, the cumulative effects of developments in the Berners Bay area is expected to
transform a relatively pristine area into a heavily impacted industrial and commercial
area..
The proposed action is expected to alter the ecology and distribution of adult and
juvenile forage fish in Berners Bay, which poses potential risks to Steller sea
lions. The hydrology of the bay at Cascade Point will be permanently altered by
the proposed action: wave action is likely to change along with tidal flushing,
turbidity, and current flows; reduced sediment transport; and localized changes in
temperature and salinity. The physical construction and operation of a Cascade
Point marine facility is expected to alter the structure and composition of the
vegetative community, temporarily or permanently, such that value of this area to
herring and other forage fish will decline dramatically. Over the long term, the
aggregate effects of habitat modifications and increased noise and vessel traffic
may cause juvenile schooling fish to abandon shoreline rearing habitat within the
action area. Without these shoreline habitats, these forage fish may not be able to
use Berners Bay, reducing the prey base for Steller sea lions within the Bay and
within Lynn Canal.
(NMFS 2005a: 123).
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