NOAA Protecting Salmon Fisheries in Southeast Alaska

NOAA Fisheries worked closely with the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska to offset environmental impacts of a new dock and float for commercial vessels in Auke Nu Cove.

Plans for the dock called for filling nearly 5 acres of productive intertidal habitat, including eelgrass beds that serve as essential fish habitat for important commercially harvested fish such as Coho and sockeye salmon.

In response to NOAA recommendations, the project was redesigned to avoid eelgrass habitat. Eelgrass that could not be avoided was transplanted elsewhere by NOAA staff with help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Alaska Glacier Seafood Company. NOAA continues to monitor the newly transplanted area to determine the feasibility of future eelgrass transplant efforts in southeast Alaska.