Fisheries Service to assess Cook Inlet IHAs

The National Marine Fisheries Service has announced its intent to conduct an environmental assessment of the impacts of issuing incidental harassment authorizations for Cook Inlet for 2017. The agency has also said that it needs to receive applications for IHAs for 2017 by Oct. 15.

An IHA, while not strictly a legal requirement, is an essential prerequisite for anyone conducting offshore activities since it authorizes the minor, unintended disturbance of marine mammals, thus protecting the authorization holder from violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act. A company conducting, for example, a seismic survey in Cook Inlet will obtain an IHA for the survey - the IHA, which lasts for one year, involves a public review process and typically includes specified measures needed to mitigate the possibility of significant wildlife disturbance.

Of particular concern in Cook Inlet is the beluga whale, a marine mammal sub-species that has been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The Fisheries Service says that in October 2014 it announced an intention to prepare an environmental impact statement, analyzing the impacts of issuing IHAs for Cook Inlet. But, given the length of time required to complete an EIS of this type, the agency is conducting a simpler environmental assessment for 2017.

The concept behind the environmental assessment is to evaluate the potential impact of multiple concurrent IHAs on beluga whales, rather than separately conducting an individual assessment for each IHA, the agency says.

The Fisheries Service also commented that it has issued new guidance for assessing the impacts of anthropogenic sound on marine mammal hearing.

- ALAN BAILEY