Biological Opinion (NMFS) first United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Maritime Administration, St. Herman Harbor Infrastructure Replacement, Kodiak Island, Alaska

NMFS Consultation Number:  AKRO-2025-00800

This opinion considers the effects of removing piles, in-water pile driving of steel piles, hydraulic hammering and shoal removal in marine waters, construction vessel traffic, and support operations. 

The action may affect the endangered North Pacific right whale and their critical habitat, the threatened Mexico Distinct Population Segment (DPS) and endangered Western North Pacific DPS humpback whale and their critical habitats, endangered fin whale, the endangered Western North Pacific DPS gray whale, the endangered sperm whale, and the endangered Western DPS Steller sea lion and its critical habitat. 

This biological opinion is based on information provided in the Biological Assessment provided by the USACE’s non-federal designee, Solstice Alaska Consulting, Inc., and the IHA Application and Proposed IHA (91 FR 12363, March 13, 2026). Other sources of information relied upon include consultation communications (emails and virtual meetings), recent consultations completed in the same region, previous monitoring reports, and marine mammal surveys conducted in and around Kodiak, Alaska. A complete record of this consultation is on file at NMFS’s Anchorage, Alaska office.