Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat from Non-Fishing Activities in Alaska

233 Pages·2017·1.95 MB·English

NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/AKR-14
doi:10.7289/V5/TM-F/AKR-14
Impacts to Essential Fish
Habitat from Non-Fishing
Activities in Alaska
EFH 5 Year Review: 2010 through 2015
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service
Please cite this document as:
Limpinsel, D. E., Eagleton, M. P., and Hanson, J. L,. 2017. Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat from Non-Fishing Activi-
ties in Alaska. EFH 5 Year Review: 2010 through 2015. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/AKR-14, 229p.
doi:10.7289/V5/TM-F/AKR-14
Hard copies may be obtained by contacting:
[email protected] or [email protected]
NOAA Fisheries
Alaska Region, Anchorage Field Office
222 West 7th Avenue, Room 552. #43
Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7577
907.271.5006
This document is available online in an interactive format at:
https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/habitat/efh
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks for the most recent contributions to this report: SeanBob Kelly and Sean Eagan (NOAA/NMFS), and
Amy Whit and Joseph Kaskey (Azura). Review, wholly or in part, technical information, and comments were provided
to this report by Kerim Aydin, Steve Barbeaux, Ed Farley, Gretchen Harrington, Anne Hollowed, Jim Ianeli, Bob Lauth,
Joe Orsi, Paul Spencer, Sara Trainor, Ellen Yasumiishi, and Stefani Zador. This report is a living document and the
culmination of several previous iterations, to which those contributors should also be acknowledged: Erika Ammann,
Chiska Derr, Matthew Eagleton, Jeanne Hanson, Cindy Hartmann Moore, Brian Lance, Doug Limpinsel, Mandy
Lindeberg, Carl Marks, Katharine Miller, Adam Moles, Larry Peltz, Stanley Rice, Linda Shaw, and Susan Walker.
Credit for cover photos:
Cook Inlet Oil Platforms: NOAA Marine Mammal, Beluga Surveys, Oceanwide Science Institute
http://oceanwidescience.org/cook-inlet-beluga-whale-monitoring/#
Aleutian Islands Coral Garden: Bob Stone, NOAA/NMFS/ABL—TSMRI
https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/News/Aleutian_corals.htm
Aerial Coastline: Image of Chilkoot Inlet, Lynn Canal, Coastal Impressions, NOAA Shore Zone Project
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Original photo source unknown, though believed NOAA SCAT Recon. Recently retrieved from
Scientific American article found at https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-valdez-20-years-later-oil-spill-
prevention/
Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat
from Non-Fishing Activities in Alaska

EFH 5 Year Review: 2010 through 2015
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service
Impacts to Essential Fish
Habitat from Non-fishing
Activities in Alaska
May 2017

Final

Prepared by

National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region
Habitat Conservation Division

National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region
Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat from Non-fishing Activities in Alaska
May 2017

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Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat from Non-fishing Activities in Alaska
May 2017

Executive Summary

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) is the primary law
governing marine fisheries management in United States (U.S.) federal waters. First passed in 1976, the
MSA fosters long-term biological and economic sustainability of our nation's marine fisheries out to 200
nautical miles (nm) from shore. In 1996, the U.S. Congress added new habitat conservation provisions
to assist the fishery management councils (FMCs) in the description and identification of Essential Fish
Habitat (EFH) in fishery management plans (FMPs); including adverse impacts on such habitat, and in
the consideration of actions to ensure the conservation and enhancement of such habitat. The MSA also
requires federal agencies to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on all actions or
proposed actions that are permitted, funded, or undertaken by the agency that may adversely affect EFH.
To specifically meet national standards, EFH descriptions and any conservation and management
measures shall be based on the best scientific information available and allow for variations among, and
contingencies in, fisheries, fishery resources, and catches. Previous iterations of this report Impacts to
Essential Fish Habitat from Non-fishing Activities in Alaska addressed non-fishing activities requiring
EFH consultations and activities that may adversely affect EFH and offered example conservation
measures for a wide variety of non-fishing activities. In this recent update these activities are grouped
into four broad environmental categories to which impacts usually occur: (1) wetlands and woodlands;
(2) headwaters, streams, rivers, and lakes; (3) marine estuaries and nearshore zones; and (4) open water
marine and offshore zones.

Alaska extends over Arctic, subarctic, and temperate climate zones. Four recognized Large Marine
Ecosystems (LMEs) exist in these climate zones (NMFS 2010, NOAA 2012). A total of seventeen
coastal zones are identified within the nearshore and coastal zones (Piatt and Springer 2007), eight
terrestrial ecoregions are defined above the high tide line to interior Alaska (Nowacki et al. 2001).
Water, the most important EFH feature, moves through all of these ecoregions and habitat types. This
2016 report introduces an ecosystem-based approach to this key feature, and presents the current
understanding of the existing ecosystem processes within these regions and habitats that support EFH
attributes1 necessary for fish and invertebrate survival at different life stages. A new section also
summaries our current understanding of climate change and ocean acidification; presents potential
effects on marine EFH, discusses potential cumulative impacts in light of current projections, and
includes recommendations for improving our understanding and monitoring of climate change. The
exact reason why climate change maybe occurring is not fully understood. However, climate scientists,
oceanographers, and fisheries biologists have identified significant change in our atmosphere, oceans,
and regional weather patterns. An indicator in Alaska is the decline in the extent and duration of sea ice.
Scientists at NMFS’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) have suggested that changes to marine
conditions have altered trophic dynamics and influenced the distribution and abundance of some
commercial fish species in the Eastern Bering Sea (EBS). Furthermore, increasing sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) may have a similar influence on fisheries distribution
and abundance.

The NMFS Alaska Region Habitat Conservation Division offers this report to inform decision makers
and the public on activities that may affect EFH and possible EFH Conservation Recommendations to
conserve healthy fish stocks and their habitat.

1 An EFH attribute is water and any quality or characteristic given to, or supported by water, related biology, chemistry, or
geology that benefits aquatic or marine species and trophic levels at several possible life history stages.
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May 2017

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 17
1.1 Background on Essential Fish Habitat ................................................................. 17
1.2 Significance of Essential Fish Habitat ................................................................. 18
1.3 Non-fishing Activities .......................................................................................... 18
1.4 Purpose of the Document ..................................................................................... 19
1.5 Brief History ........................................................................................................ 21
1.6 Effect of the Recommendations on Non-fishing Activities ................................. 21
Chapter 2 Climate Change and Ocean Acidification ......................................................... 23
2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 23
2.1.1 Metrics .................................................................................................... 24
2.1.2 Large Marine Ecosystem ........................................................................ 27
2.1.2.1 Gulf of Alaska ........................................................................... 27
2.1.2.2 Bering Sea ................................................................................. 28
2.1.2.3 Arctic ......................................................................................... 30
2.2 Cumulative Impacts of Climate Change to Marine Fisheries .............................. 31
2.2.1 Impacts on Ecosystem Productivity and Habitat .................................... 31
2.2.2 Impacts on marine fish and shellfish ...................................................... 33
2.2.3 Impacts on Fisheries and Fishery Dependent Communities ................... 35
2.2.4 Implications for Future Security of the Food Supply ............................. 37
2.3 Potential Adverse Impacts ................................................................................... 37
2.4 Recommended Conservation Measures ............................................................... 39
Chapter 3 Wetlands and Woodlands .................................................................................... 41
3.1 Introduction – Current Condition ........................................................................ 41
3.2 Alaska Metrics ..................................................................................................... 41
3.2.1 Wetlands ................................................................................................. 41
3.2.2 Woodlands .............................................................................................. 42
3.3 Physical, Biological, and Chemical Processes ..................................................... 43
Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat from Non-fishing Activities in Alaska
May 2017

3.3.1 Wetlands ................................................................................................. 43
3.3.2 Woodlands .............................................................................................. 44
3.4 Source of Potential Impacts ................................................................................. 44
3.4.1 Upland Activities .................................................................................... 44
3.4.2 Silviculture/Timber Harvest ................................................................... 45
3.4.2.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 45
3.4.2.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 49
3.4.3 Pesticides ................................................................................................ 52
3.4.3.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 53
3.4.3.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 54
3.4.4 Urban and Suburban Development ......................................................... 54
3.4.4.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 55
3.4.4.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 57
3.4.5 Road Building and Maintenance ............................................................. 58
3.4.5.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 58
3.4.5.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 60
Chapter 4 Headwaters, Streams, Rivers and Lakes .............................................................. 61
4.1 Introduction – Current Condition ........................................................................ 61
4.2 Alaskan Metrics ................................................................................................... 61
4.3 Physical, Biological, and Chemical Processes ..................................................... 62
4.3.1 Hyporheic Zone ...................................................................................... 63
4.3.2 Headwater Streams ................................................................................. 63
4.3.3 Organic Matter ........................................................................................ 64
4.3.4 Marine-Derived Nutrients ....................................................................... 66
4.3.5 Riparian Zones ........................................................................................ 66
4.3.6 Hydrology ............................................................................................... 67
4.3.7 Surface and Groundwater Regimes ........................................................ 67
4.3.8 Channel Morphology .............................................................................. 68
4.4 Source of Potential Impacts ................................................................................. 68
4.4.1 Mining..................................................................................................... 68
4.4.2 Mineral Mining ....................................................................................... 69
4.4.2.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 69
Impacts to Essential Fish Habitat from Non-fishing Activities in Alaska
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4.4.2.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 71
4.4.3 Sand and Gravel Mining ......................................................................... 72
4.4.3.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 72
4.4.3.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 73
4.4.4 Organic and Inorganic Debris ................................................................. 74
4.4.5 Organic Debris Removal ........................................................................ 74
4.4.5.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 75
4.4.5.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 75
4.4.6 Inorganic Debris ..................................................................................... 75
4.4.6.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 77
4.4.6.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 78
4.4.7 Dam Construction and Operation ........................................................... 78
4.4.7.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 78
4.4.7.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 80
4.4.8 Commercial and Domestic Water Use .................................................... 81
4.4.8.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 82
4.4.8.2 Recommended Conservation Measures .................................... 82
Chapter 5 Estuaries and Nearshore Zones ........................................................................... 84
5.1 Introduction - Current Condition ......................................................................... 84
5.2 Alaska Metrics ..................................................................................................... 84
5.2.1 Regional Coastal Ecosystems ................................................................. 85
5.2.1.1 Southeast and Gulf of Alaska .................................................... 85
5.2.1.2 Aleutian Islands ......................................................................... 85
5.2.1.3 Bering Sea ................................................................................. 86
5.2.1.4 Arctic ......................................................................................... 87
5.3 Physical, Chemical, and Biological Processes ..................................................... 88
5.3.1 Nearshore Fish Nurseries ........................................................................ 88
5.3.2 Estuarine Processes – Terrestrial Influence ............................................ 89
5.3.2.1 Terrestrial Carbon – Plant Derived Nutrient ............................. 91
5.3.2.2 Terrestrial Nitrogen - Salmon-Derived Nutrient ....................... 91
5.4 Source of Potential Impacts ................................................................................. 92
5.4.1 Dredging ................................................................................................. 93
5.4.1.1 Potential Adverse Impacts ......................................................... 93