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Designation of Critical Habitat for the threatened Southern Distinct Population Segment of North American Green Sturgeon Final Biological Report Prepared by: National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Region Protected Resources Division 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200 Long Beach, California 90802 October 2009 U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... 4 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................... 5 CRITICAL HABITAT ........................................................................................................... 5 GREEN STURGEON LIFE HISTORY AND STATUS..................................................... 6 PHYSICAL OR BIOLOGICAL FEATURES ESSENTIAL FOR CONSERVATION. 12 GEOGRAPHICAL AREA OCCUPIED BY THE SPECIES AND SPECIFIC AREAS WITHIN THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA OCCUPIED .................................................. 18 UNOCCUPIED AREAS....................................................................................................... 49 SPECIAL MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS OR PROTECTION........................ 51 CRITICAL HABITAT REVIEW TEAM .......................................................................... 55 CHRT Phase 1................................................................................................................... 56 CHRT Phase 2................................................................................................................... 57 CHRT Phase 3................................................................................................................... 58 CHRT Phase 4................................................................................................................... 61 Proposed Critical Habitat Designation and Public Comment Phase........................... 63 CHRT Phase 5................................................................................................................... 63 LIST OF REFERENCES..................................................................................................... 98 APPENDIX A ...................................................................................................................... 114 APPENDIX B .................................................................................................................. 122 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of occupied specific areas considered in coastal bays, estuaries, and coastal marine waters off California ..............................................................................................93 Figure 2. Map of occupied specific areas considered in the Central Valley, California ..94 Figure 3. Map of occupied specific areas considered in Oregon......................................95 Figure 4. Map of occupied specific areas considered in Washington...............................96 Figure 5. Map of occupied specific areas considered in Alaska.......................................97 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Summary of specific areas and green sturgeon presence ...................................71 Table 2. Summary of the occupied specific areas.............................................................74 Table 3. Definitions and criteria for multi-factor scoring system.....................................76 Table 4. Multi-factor scoring system table used to evaluate occupied areas....................77 Table 5. Evaluation table used to rate the conservation value of the specific areas.........78 Table 6. Summary comparison of conservation value evaluation approaches .................80 Table 7. Summary of the evaluation and final conservation value ratings for each of the occupied specific areas ......................................................................................................82 Table 8. Definitions and criteria for evaluation of unoccupied areas...............................91 Table 9. Evaluation table used in evaluation of unoccupied areas ...................................92 Final Green Sturgeon Critical Habitat Biological Report – September 2009 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Section 4 of the Federal Endangered Species Act requires the designation of critical habitat for threatened and endangered species. This report contains a biological assessment in support of a final critical habitat designation for the threatened Southern Distinct Population Segment of North American green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris; hereafter, “Southern DPS”). A critical habitat review team (CHRT) consisting of 9 Federal biologists was convened to evaluate critical habitat for the Southern DPS. The CHRT was tasked with compiling and assessing the best available data to identify habitat features essential to the conservation of the species, determine the geographical area occupied by the species, delineate specific areas within the geographical area occupied that contain at least one essential habitat feature, identify special management considerations or protections required within each area, and evaluate the conservation value of each specific area for the Southern DPS. The CHRT defined the geographical area occupied to range from the California/Mexico border north to the Bering Sea, AK. Within the geographical area occupied, 41 specific areas were delineated within freshwater rivers, coastal bays and estuaries, and coastal marine waters. The CHRT also identified 7 presently unoccupied areas that may be essential to conservation, but for which there is insufficient information at this time to determine whether any are essential for conservation. This report summarizes the available data on green sturgeon presence, distribution, and use of each specific area and the CHRT’s evaluation of the conservation value ratings for each area. The assessment and findings provided in this report inform the analysis of the biological conservation benefits of designating each area as critical habitat for the Southern DPS. A separate economic analysis report (Industrial Economics Inc. 2009) was prepared to analyze the economic impacts of designating critical habitat within each area. To determine which areas to designate as critical habitat, the biological conservation benefits of designation were weighed against the economic impacts and other relevant impacts (i.e., impacts to national security and tribal lands) of designation. This weighing process and analysis was documented in the ESA 4(b)(2) report (NMFS 2009b) to support NMFS’ final critical habitat designation. Final Green Sturgeon Critical Habitat Biological Report – September 2009 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS NMFS gratefully acknowledges the commitment and efforts of the following CHRT members. NMFS thanks them for generously contributing their time and expertise to the development of this biological report in support of the green sturgeon critical habitat designation. Richard Corwin, Fishery biologist, US Bureau of Reclamation, Red Bluff, CA Steve Lindley, Research fishery biologist, NMFS Southwest Region, Santa Cruz, CA Mary Moser, Research fishery biologist, NMFS Northwest Region, Seattle, WA Melissa Neuman, Fishery biologist, NMFS Southwest Region, Long Beach, CA Bill Poytress, Fishery biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Red Bluff, CA Steve Stone, Fishery biologist, NMFS Northwest Region, Portland, OR Jeff Stuart, Fishery biologist, NMFS Southwest Region, Sacramento, CA Susan Wang, Fishery biologist, NMFS Southwest Region, Long Beach, CA Julie Weeder, Fishery biologist, NMFS Southwest Region, Arcata, CA David Woodbury, Fishery biologist, NMFS Southwest Region, Santa Rosa, CA We also wish to thank numerous individuals who contributed information and aided in the preparation of this report, particularly these individuals from the NMFS Southwest Region: Diane Ashton, Doug Chow, Matt Dorsey, Charleen Gavette, Doug Hampton, and Jennifer Morrison. Finally, we thank the three peer reviewers whose review and comments added to the quality and clarity of this report: Dan Erickson (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Newport, OR), Josh Israel (UC Davis Dept. of Animal Science, Davis, CA), and Joel Van Eenennaam (UC Davis Dept. of Animal Science, Davis, CA). Final Green Sturgeon Critical Habitat Biological Report – September 2009 4 BACKGROUND On April 7, 2006, NMFS determined that the Southern Distinct Population Segment of North American green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris; hereafter, “Southern DPS”) is at risk of extinction in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range and listed the species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (71 FR 17757). The ESA requires NMFS to designate critical habitat for threatened and endangered species. To prepare the critical habitat designation for the Southern DPS, a critical habitat review team (CHRT) was convened, consisting of 9 biologists from NMFS and other Federal agencies with experience working on green sturgeon-related research and management issues, or experience in developing a critical habitat designation. The CHRT reviewed and summarized available information on green sturgeon, including recent biological surveys and reports, peer-reviewed literature, NMFS status reviews for green sturgeon (Moyle et al. 1992; Adams et al. 2002; Biological Review Team (BRT)

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