NMFS Biological Opinion on U.S. Navy training ... - Govsupport.us

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FINAL PROGRAMMATIC BIOLOGICAL OPINION ON U.S. NAVY ACTIVITIES IN THE HAWAII RANGE COMPLEX 2008-2013 commercial data available to determine if an individual’s probable response to an Action’s effects on the environment (which we identify in our response analyses) are likely to have consequences for the individual’s fitness. When individual, listed plants or animals are expected to experience reductions in fitness, we would expect those reductions to also reduce the abundance, reproduction rates, or growth rates (or increase variance in one or more of these rates) of the populations those individuals represent (see Stearns 1992). If we conclude that listed plants or animals are not likely to experience reductions in their fitness, we would conclude our assessment. Our risk analyses reflect these relationships between listed species and the populations that comprise them, and the individuals that comprise those populations. Our risk analyses begin by identifying the probable risks actions pose to listed individuals that are likely to be exposed to an action’s effects. Our analyses then integrate those individual risks to determine if the number of individuals that experience reduced fitness (or the magnitude of any reductions) is likely to be sufficient to reduce the viability of the populations those individuals represent (measured using changes in the populations’ abundance, reproduction, spatial structure and connectivity, growth rates, or variance in these measures to make inferences about the population’s probability of becoming demographically, ecologically, or genetically extinct in 10, 25, 50, or 100 years). In this step of our analyses, we use the population’s base condition (established in the Environmental Baseline and Status of Listed Resources sections of this <strong>Opinion</strong>) as our point of reference. Our risk analyses conclude by determining whether changes in the viability of one or more population is or is not likely to be sufficient to reduce the viability of the species (measured using probability of demographic, ecological, or genetic extinction in 10, 25, 50, or 100 years) those populations comprise. For these analyses, we combine our knowledge of the patterns that accompanied the decline, collapse, or extinction of populations and species that are known to have declined, collapsed, or become extinct in the past as well as a suite of population viability models. When we conduct these analyses, our assessment is designed to establish that a decline, collapse, or extinction of an endangered or threatened species is not likely; we do not conduct these analyses to establish that such an outcome is likely. In this step of our analyses, we use the species’ status (established in the Status of the Species section of this <strong>Opinion</strong>) as our point of reference. 2.3 Evidence Available for the Consultation To conduct these analyses, we considered all lines of evidence available through published and unpublished sources that represent evidence of adverse consequences or the absence of such consequences. Over the past decade, a considerable body of scientific information on anthropogenic and its effects on marine mammals and other marine life has become available. Many investigators have studied the potential responses of marine mammals and other marine organisms to human-generated sounds in marine environments or have integrated and synthesized the results of these studies (for example, Abgrail et al. 2008, Bowles et al. 1994; Croll et al. 1999, 2001; Frankel and Clark 1998; Gisiner 1998, McCauley and Cato 2001; NRC 1994 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005; Norris 1994; Reeves 1992, Richardson et al. 1995, Southall et al. 2007, Tyack 2000, 2007; Wright et al. 2007). More recently, the U.S. Navy conducted shore based observations and aerial and vessel surveys during several major training exercises (for 76
FINAL PROGRAMMATIC BIOLOGICAL OPINION ON U.S. NAVY ACTIVITIES IN THE HAWAII RANGE COMPLEX 2008-2013 example, the 2008 RIMPAC, 2007 Valiant Shield Exercise, and several Undersea Warfare Exercises) and the surveys specifically looked for marine mammal behavioral reactions before and after those training events. To supplement that body of knowledge, we conducted electronic literature searches using the Library of Congress’ First Search and Dissertation Abstracts databases, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Cambridge Abstract’s Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) database services. The First Search databases provide access to general biological literature, master’s theses, and doctoral dissertations back to 1980; ASFA provides access to journal articles, magazine articles, and conference proceedings back to 1964. Our searches specifically focus on the ArticleFirst, BasicBiosis, Dissertation Abstracts, Proceedings and ECO databases, which index the major journals dealing with issues of ecological risk (for example, the journals Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Human and Ecological Risk Assessment), marine mammals (Journal of Mammalogy, Canadian Journal of Zoology, Journal of Zoology, Marine Mammal Science), sea turtles (Copeia, Herpetologia, Journal of Herpetology), ecology (Ambio, Bioscience, Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology, Journal of the Marine <strong>Biological</strong> Association of the UK, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Oikos), bioacoustics (Bioacoustics, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America), and animal behavior (Advances in the Study of Behavior, Animal Behavior, Behavior, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Ethology). We manually searched issues of the Journal of Cetacean Research and Management and Reports of the International Whaling Commission. Our prior experience demonstrated that electronic searches produce the lowest number of false positive results (references produced by a search that are not relevant) and false negative results (references not produced by a search that are relevant) if we use paired combinations of the keywords: sonar, mid-frequency sonar, acoustic, marine acoustic, military exercises, sound, and noise paired with the keywords cetacean, dolphin, marine mammal, pinniped, porpoise, sea turtle, seal, and whale. To expand these searches, we modified these keyword pairs with the keywords effect, impact, mortality event, response, behavior (including the spelling “behaviour” as well as “behavior”), stranding, unusual mortality event. To collect data for our exposure analyses, we used the keyword: encounter rate paired with marine mammal, cetacean, and whale. We supplemented the results of these electronic searches by acquiring all of the references we had gathered that, based on a reading of their titles or abstracts, appeared to comply with the keywords presented in the preceding paragraph. If a reference’s title did not allow us to eliminate it as irrelevant to this inquiry, we acquired it. We continued this process until we gathered all (100 percent) of the relevant references cited by the introduction and discussion sections of the relevant papers, articles, books, and, reports and all of the references cited in the materials and methods, and results sections of those documents. We did not conduct hand searches of published journals for this consultation. We organized the results of these searches using commercial bibliographic software. To supplement our searches, we examined the literature that was cited in documents and any articles we collected through our electronic searches. If, based on a reading of the title or abstract of a reference, the reference appeared to comply with the keywords presented in the preceding paragraph, we acquired the reference. If a reference’s title did not allow us to eliminate it as irrelevant to this inquiry, we acquired it. We continued this process until we identified all (100 percent) of the relevant references cited by the introduction and discussion sections of the relevant papers, articles, books, and, reports and all of the references cited in the materials and methods, and results sections of those 77
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