Biological Opinion NOAA Fisheries, Office of Protected Resources, Permits and Conservation Division, Eareckson Air Station Long-term Fuel Pier Repairs, Shemya Island, Alaska
April 24, 2025
This opinion considers the effects of all in-water activities including vessel transit of materials and construction barges, instillation of steel H piles and pipe-combi-wall system, and excavation for the new engineered revetment along the western shoreline. This includes in water screening for the Military Explosives of Concern (MEC) and the effects of the proposed issuance of an IHA.
NMFS Consultation Number: AKRO-2024-02611
This action may affect the endangered western distinct population segment (DPS) Steller sea lion, threatened Mexico DPS humpback whale, the endangered Central American and Western North Pacific humpback whale, endangered sei whale, endangered fin whale, endangered Western North Pacific gray whale, endangered blue whale, endangered North Pacific right whale, endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale, endangered Southern Resident DPS killer whale, and endangered sperm whale, as well as critical habitats for Western North Pacific and Central America DPS humpback whales, Cook Inlet beluga whale, Mexico DPS humpback whale, Southern Resident killer whale, and North Pacific right whale, and Steller sea lion. There is no critical habitat designated for sperm whales, fin whales, blue whales, sei whales, or gray whales.
This opinion is based on information provided in the October, 2023, Biological Assessment (BA) and the proposed IHA. Other sources of information relied upon include consultation communications (emails and virtual meetings, monitoring reports).A complete record of this consultation is on file at NMFS’s Juneau, Alaska office.