Endangered Species Act Section 7 Biological Opinion: Issuance of regulations and letters of authorization under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to authorize incidental take of marine mammals by U.S. citizens engaged in space vehicle and missile launch operations at the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska

Details

• NOAA Program & Office:
  NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service)
• Description:
  The operator of the KLC, AAC has reapplied for authorization for the harassment taking of marine mammals under the MMPA (75 FR 80775, 23 December 2010). This authorization would permit the unintentional and incidental taking of small numbers of marine mammals due to the operation of the KLC. Because the western population of Steller sea lions is also listed as an endangered species, those takings must also be authorized under the ESA. Incidental takes of endangered species which are associated with a Federal action (i.e., NMFS's issuing regulations and subsequent LOAs) are authorized through the issuance of an Incidental Take Statement (ITS), prepared by NMFS AKR, and an accompanying biological opinion, which concludes that the action as authorized will not jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of its designated critical habitat.
• Keywords:
  Harbor Seal Incidental Take (Endangered Species) Launching Rockets (Aeronautics) Steller's Sea Lion Harbor Seal Incidental Take (Endangered Species) Steller's Sea Lion
• Series:
  ESA Section 7 Consultation
• Format:
  PDF
• Document Type:
  Biological Opinion
• Place as Subject:
  Kodiak Island (Alaska)
• Rights Information:
  Public Domain
• Compliance:
  Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:8eab39f7171b8d5ff05081327e6a3026c7386dd0a6918a2b313ba27d30258612
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/17179/noaa_17179_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.41 MB ]