Revised Biological Evaluation for the General NPDES Permit for Offshore Seafood Processors within Federal Waters off the Coast of Alaska Permit No. AKG524000 Prepared for Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 1200 6th Ave, Suite 155, OWW-191 Seattle, WA 98101 Prepared by AQUA TERRA Consultants 2685 Marine Way, Suite 1314 Mountain View, CA 94043 And Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 1200 6th Ave, Suite 155 Seattle, WA 98101 Updated July 2020 Biological Evaluation for the General NPDES Permit for Offshore Seafood Processors in Alaska, Revised 2020 (this page intentionally left blank) ii Biological Evaluation for the General NPDES Permit for Offshore Seafood Processors in Alaska, Revised 2020 CONTENTS FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................ v TABLES ......................................................................................................................................... v ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................. vi 1.0. BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Project history ....................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Federal Action History .......................................................................................................... 8 2.0 DESCRIPTION OF ACTION AND ACTION AREA ............................................................. 9 2.1 Discussion of Federal Action and Legal Authority .............................................................. 9 2.1.1 Endangered Species Act [16 U.S.C. § 1531 et al.] ...................................................... 10 2.1.2 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act [U.S.C. § 1801 et al.] ............................................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 PERMIT PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES ......................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Seafood Processing Procedures and Discharge Characterization ................................ 11 2.2.2 Distribution and Discharge of Permitted Facilities ...................................................... 16 2.2.3. Discharge Characterization for Permitted Facilities ................................................... 16 2.3. PERMIT DESCRIPTION .................................................................................................. 18 2.3.1 Facilities ....................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.2. Pollutants..................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.3 Receiving Waters ......................................................................................................... 19 2.3.4 Areas Excluded from Authorization under this General NPDES Permit .................... 20 2.3.5 Revision to the Grind Requirement ............................................................................. 24 2.3.6 Effluent Limitations ..................................................................................................... 27 2.3.7 Best Management Practices Plan ................................................................................. 28 2.3.8 Sea Surface Visual Monitoring Requirements ............................................................. 32 2.3.9 Other Monitoring and Reporting Requirements .......................................................... 32 1. Waste Conveyance system: ........................................................................................ 32 2. Outfall System ............................................................................................................ 32 3. Representative Pictures ............................................................................................... 32 2.4 ACTION AREA.................................................................................................................. 33 2.4.1 Gulf of Alaska .............................................................................................................. 33 2.4.2 Bering Sea .................................................................................................................... 34 2.4.3 Aleutian Islands ........................................................................................................... 35 2.4.4 Anadromous Fisheries Waters ..................................................................................... 35 3.0 THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES................................................................ 35 3.1 FISH .................................................................................................................................... 37 3.1.1 Chinook Salmon........................................................................................................... 39 3.1.2 Sockeye Salmon ........................................................................................................... 40 3.1.3 Steelhead (Upper Columbia River DPS) ..................................................................... 41 3.2 BIRDS ................................................................................................................................. 42 3.2.1 Short-tailed Albatross .................................................................................................. 42 3.2.2 Steller’s Eider............................................................................................................... 46 3.2.3 Spectacled Eider........................................................................................................... 49 3.2.4 Kittlitz’s Murrelet ........................................................................................................ 52 3.3 MARINE MAMMALS ....................................................................................................... 53 3.3.1 Polar Bear..................................................................................................................... 53 3.3.2 Northern Sea Otter (Southwest Alaska Population) .................................................... 56 iii Biological Evaluation for the General NPDES Permit for Offshore Seafood Processors in Alaska, Revised 2020 3.3.3 Steller Sea Lion (Western DPS) .................................................................................. 58 3.3.4 Ringed Seal (Arctic Subspecies) .................................................................................. 61 3.3.5 Bearded Seal (Beringia DPS)....................................................................................... 62 3.3.6 North Pacific Right Whale ........................................................................................... 63 3.3.7 Bowhead Whale ........................................................................................................... 64 3.3.8 Sei Whale ..................................................................................................................... 65 3.3.9 Blue Whale................................................................................................................... 66 3.3.10 Fin Whale ................................................................................................................... 67 3.3.11 Humpback Whale (Western North Pacific DPS) ....................................................... 68 3.3.12 Sperm Whale .............................................................................................................. 69 3.3.13 Beluga Whale (Cook Inlet Stock) .............................................................................. 70 3.3.14 Gray Whale (Western North Pacific DPS) ................................................................ 71 3.4 REPTILES .......................................................................................................................... 72 3.4.1 Leatherback Sea Turtle ................................................................................................ 72 3.4.2 Loggerhead Sea Turtle (North Pacific Ocean DPS) .................................................... 73 3.4.3 Green Sea Turtle .......................................................................................................... 73 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE.......................................................................................... 74 4.1 Water Quality ...................................................................................................................... 74 5.0. EFFECTS ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................... 75 5.1 Impacts Associated with Solid Seafood Process Wastes .................................................... 76 5.1.1 Burial and Habitat Modification .................................................................................. 76 5.1.2 Altered Sediment ......................................................................................................... 77 5.1.3 Decay of Process Waste ............................................................................................... 78 5.1.4 Cumulative Impacts of Solids Deposition