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1Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee CouncilExxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

645 G Street, Suite 401, Anchorage, AK 99501

907-278-8012 800-478-7745 (in Alaska) 800-283-7745 (outside Alaskas)

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration PlanUpdate on Injured Resources and Services

March 1999

UPDATE ON INJURED RESOURCES AND SERVICES • March 1999

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History and Purposes of the ListIn November 1994, the Trustee Council adopted an offi-

cial list of Injured Resources and Services Injured by the Spillas part of the Restoration Plan. This list serves three mainpurposes:

1. It is representative of injuries caused by the oil spill andcleanup efforts and helps the Trustees and the public trackthe status of important fish, wildlife, and other resourcesand services. The fish and wildlife on this list are thoughtto have suffered population-level or sublethal injuries,but it does not include every species or resource that suf-fered some degree of injury. For example, carcasses ofabout 90 different species of oiled birds were recoveredin 1989, but only 10 species of birds are on the list of in-jured species.

2. It helps guide priorities for implementation of the Resto-ration Plan. This was especially important in 1994 whenthe plan was first adopted, but the list still serves to high-light resources that are in need of attention. For example,what additional work can be undertaken to clarify thestatus of recovery-unknown resources, or what can bedone, if anything, to help move resources from not re-covering to recovering or from recovering to recovered?

3. Finally, taken as a whole, the list of injured resources helpsthe Trustees and the public track recovery of the overallecosystem and the functions and human services that itprovides. For example, neither the ecosystem nor the ser-vice of commercial fishing can be judged to haverecovered from the effects of the oil spill until keystoneresources, such as Pacific herring, are themselves fullyrecovered.

Chapter 4 of the Restoration Plan indicates that the InjuredResources and Services list will be reviewed periodicallyand updated to reflect what is learned from scientific stud-ies and other sources of information, such as from traditionaland local knowledge. Each time the list is reviewed, aresource’s progress or lack of progress toward recovery isevaluated with reference to a recovery objective that is asconcrete and measurable as possible. Sometimes the recov-ery objectives themselves are changed to reflect new insights

about the nature of the injury and the best ways to evaluaterecovery status. The table on page 3 includes brief descrip-tions of what each recovery category means.

The Injured Resources and Services list was first updatedin September 1996. At that time, for example, the bald eaglewas upgraded from recovering to recovered. In 1999, 10years after the oil spill, several more changes have beenmade. The river otter is now considered to be recovered,and five resources—black oystercatcher, clams, marbledmurrelet, Pacific herring, sea otter—are upgraded to recov-ering. One resource, common loon, is moved from recoveryunknown to not recovering. Five resources remain as re-covery unknown. Four human services are classified asrecovering.

The Injured Resources and Services list can be updatedat any time that new information becomes available. It islikely, however, that the next evaluation of changes in re-covery status for all injured resources and lost or reducedservices will be in 2001, 10 years after the 1991 settlementbetween the governments and Exxon and initiation of therestoration program.

Ecosystem Perspective and RecoveryThe List of Injured Resources consists mainly of single

species and resources, but, as noted above, it provides a ba-sis for evaluating the recovery of the overall ecosystem, itsfunctions, and the services that it provides to people. Infact, through the Restoration Plan, the Trustee Counciladopted an ecological approach to restoration, and the stud-ies and projects it sponsors have been increasingly ecologicalin character.

Page 35 of the Restoration Plan defines ecosystem recov-ery as follows:

Full ecological recovery will have beenachieved when the population of flora andfauna are again present at former or prespillabundances, healthy and productive, andthere is a full complement of age classes atthe level that would have been present hadthe spill not occurred. A recovered ecosys-tem provides the same functions and servicesas would have been provided had the spillnot occurred.

UPDATE ON INJURED RESOURCES AND SERVICES

INTRODUCTION

3Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

Resources and Services Injured by the Spill

HUMAN SERVICESHuman services that depend on naturalresources were also injured by the oil spill.These services are each considered to berecovering until the resources on which theydepend are fully recovered.

Recreation & tourismCommercial fishing

Passive usesSubsistence

Cutthroat troutDesignated

RECOVERYUNKNOWN

Bald eagleRiver otter

Pacific herringPink salmon

Sea otterSediments

Sockeye salmonSubtidal communities

Common loonCormorants (3 spp.)

Harbor sealHarlequin duck

Killer whale (AB pod)Pigeon guillemot

Archaeological resourcesBlack oystercatcher

ClamsCommon murres

Intertidal communitiesMarbled murrelets

Mussels

Species are showing little or no clearimprovement since spill injuries occurred.

Limited data on life history orextent of injury; current researchinconclusive or not complete.

Substantive progress is being made toward recovery objective. The amount ofprogress and time needed to achieve recovery vary depending on the resource.

Recovery objectives have been met.

Wilderness AreasDolly Varden

Kittlitz’s murreletRockfish

Resources in boldface have eachmoved on this Recovery Lineduring the most recent update(February 9, 1999)

RECOVERING RECOVEREDu uNOT RECOVERING

Using this definition, the coastal and marine ecosystemin the oil-spill region has not recovered from the effects ofthe oil spill. Keystone species, such as Pacific herring andharbor seals, have not fully recovered, nor has the composi-tion of biological communities, such as in intertidal habitats.Although full ecological recovery has not been achieved,the spill-area ecosystem is still largely intact and function-ing and on the way to recovery 10 years after the ExxonValdez.

It also is important to understand that ecosystems are dy-namic and would have changed even in the absence of theoil spill. Baseline data describing fish and wildlife popula-tions, to say nothing of complex intertidal and subtidal

communities, were generally poor. For this reason, it wasand is difficult to evaluate injury to individual resourcesand the ecosystem in general, and an inability to documentinjury because of poor baseline data does not mean that in-jury does not exist. It also is important to note that as thetime since the oil spill grows longer, it is more and moredifficult to separate what may be lingering effects of the spillfrom changes that are natural or caused by factors unrelatedto the oil spill. In fact, what we see is often an interactionbetween oil effects and natural changes, such as the effectsof the 1998 El Niño on common murres in the Barren Is-lands.

Photo by Roy Corral


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ContentsInjured Resources

Archaeological Resources ........................................ 5Bald Eagles ................................................................ 5Black Oystercatchers ................................................ 6Common Loons ............................................................ 6Clams .......................................................................... 7Common Murres .......................................................... 7Cormorants ................................................................ 8Cutthroat Trout ........................................................ 8Designated Wilderness Areas..................................... 9Dolly Varden. ............................................................. 9Harlequin Ducks ...................................................... 10Harbor Seals............................................................ 11Intertidal communities ............................................. 11Kittlitz’s Murrelets ................................................. 12Killer Whales .......................................................... 12Marbled Murrelets .................................................. 14Mussels .................................................................... 14Pacific Herring ......................................................... 15Pigeon Guillemots .................................................... 16Pink Salmon ............................................................. 16River Otters ............................................................ 17Rockfish .................................................................. 18Sea Otters ............................................................... 18Sediments ................................................................ 19Sockeye Salmon....................................................... 19Subtidal Communities .............................................. 20

Human Services

Commercial Fishing .................................................. 21Passive Uses ............................................................ 22Recreation and Tourism ...........................................24Subsistence ............................................................. 25

Photo by Roy Corral


ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCES

BBBBBALDALDALDALDA LD E E E E EAGLESAGLESAGLESAGLESAGLES

Injury and RecoveryThe bald eagle is an abundant resident

of marine and riverine shoreline throughoutthe oil-spill area. Following the oil spill, atotal of 151 eagle carcasses was recoveredfrom the spill area. Prince William Soundprovides year-round and seasonal habitat forabout 6,000 bald eagles, and within the soundit is estimated that about 250 bald eagles diedas a result of the spill. There were no esti-mates of mortality outside the sound, butthere were deaths throughout the spill area.

In addition to direct mortalities, produc-tivity was reduced in oiled areas of PrinceWilliam Sound in 1989. Productivity wasback to normal in 1990 and 1991, and anaerial survey of adults in 1995 indicated thatthe population had returned to or exceededits prespill level in the sound.

In September 1996, the TrusteeCouncil classified the bald eagle as fullyrecovered from the effects of the oil spill.No additional work has been carried out spe-cifically to assess the status of the bald eagle.

However, the bald eagle has benefited enor-mously from the habitat protection program,including the acquisition of more than 1,200miles of marine shoreline and 280 anadro-mous fish streams.

Recovery ObjectiveBald eagles will have recovered when

their population and productivity have re-turned to prespill levels.

Injury and RecoveryThe oil-spill area is believed to contain

more than 3,000 sites of archaeological andhistorical significance. Twenty-four ar-chaeological sites on public lands are knownto have been adversely affected by cleanupactivities or looting and vandalism linkedto the oil spill. Additional sites on both pub-lic and private lands were probably injured,but damage assessment studies were limitedto public land and not designed to identifyall such sites.

Documented injuries include theft ofsurface artifacts, masking of subtle cluesused to identify and classify sites, violationof ancient burial sites, and destruction ofevidence in layered sediments. In addition,vegetation was disturbed, which exposedsites to accelerated erosion. The effect of oilon soil chemistry and organic remains mayreduce or eliminate the utility of radiocar-bon dating in some sites.

Assessments of 14 sites in 1993 sug-gested that most of the archaeological van-dalism that can be linked to the spill occurredearly in 1989, before adequate constraintswere put into place over the activities of oilspill clean-up personnel. Most vandalismtook the form of “prospecting” for high yieldsites. Once these problems were recognized,protective measures were implemented andsuccessfully limited additional injury. In1993, only two of the 14 sites visited showed

signs of continued vandalism. In 1996, therewas evidence of vandalism at five sites, butonly at one site in 1997. Natural erosion isthe major agent of degradation at the sites,and the erosion draws the attention of loot-ers to the exposed artifacts. Nine years af-ter the oil spill it is difficult to attribute therecent cases of vandalism to discovery ofthese sites at the time of the oil spill.

Oil was visible in the intertidal zonesof two of the 14 sites monitored in 1993,and hydrocarbon analysis has shown that theoil at one of the sites was from the ExxonValdez spill. Hydrocarbon concentrations atthe second site were not sufficient to permitidentification of the source or sources of theoil. The presence of oil in sediment samplestaken from four sites in 1995 did not appearto have been the result of re-oiling by ExxonValdez oil.

In 1993, the Trustee Council providedpart of the construction costs for the AlutiiqArchaeological Repository in Kodiak. Thisfacility now houses Kodiak-area artifacts thatwere collected during the time of spill re-sponse. Artifacts recovered from injured sitesin lower Cook Inlet and Prince William Soundcurrently are stored at the University ofAlaska Fairbanks or elsewhere. In 1999,however, the Trustee Council approved fund-ing for an archaeological repository and lo-cal display facilities for artifacts from PrinceWilliam Sound and lower Cook Inlet.

Two sites in Prince William Sound wereso badly damaged by oiling and erosion thatthey were partly documented, excavated,and stabilized by professional archaeologistsin 1994-1997. It appears that the two siteswere intermittently occupied for periods of2,000 and 3,000 years. Most of the culturaldeposits are prehistoric in nature.

Starting in 1996, the Trustee Councilfunded a project to involve local residentsin monitoring and protecting vulnerable sitesin the Kenai, Homer, Seldovia, Kodiak, andChignik areas. This project was based onthe premise that successful long-term stew-ardship depends on community support andinvolvement. A report on this project is duein 1999. Based on the apparently low rateof spill-related vandalism and progress inthe preservation of artificats and scien-tific data on archaeological sites and ar-tifacts, archaeological resources are con-sidered to be recovering.Recovery Objective

Archaeological resources are nonre-newable: they cannot recover in the samesense as biological resources. Archaeologi-cal resources will be considered to have re-covered when spill-related injury ends, loot-ing and vandalism are at or below prespilllevels, and the artifacts and scientific dataremaining in vandalized sites are preserved(e.g., through excavation, site stabilization,or other forms of documentation).


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CCCCCOMMONOMMONOMMONOMMONOMMON L L L L LOONSOONSOONSOONSOONS

Injury and RecoveryCarcasses of 395 loons of four species were

recovered following the spill, including at least216 common loons. Current population sizesin the spill area are not known for any of thesespecies. Common loons in the spill area maynumber only a few thousand, including onlyhundreds in Prince William Sound. Commonloons injured by the spill probably included amixture of wintering and migrating birds. Thespecific breeding areas used by the loons af-fected by the spill are not known.

Boat-based surveys of marine birds in

Prince William Sound give at least some in-sight into the recovery status of the loons af-fected by the oil spill. These surveys indi-cated that the oil spill had a negative effecton numbers of loons (all species combined)in the oiled parts of the sound in 1991. Basedon the surveys carried out through 1998, thereis no indication of recovery. Further, a com-parison of July 1984 versus July 1990-98survey data suggests that loons (all species)show a pattern of increasing densities inunoiled parts of the sound and essentiallystable densities in oiled parts of the sound.

This disparity is consistent with possible lackof recovery from an oil-spill effect. Thus,the common loon is considered to have notrecovered from the effects of the spill. Noadditional information on the status of com-mon loons is available.

Recovery ObjectiveCommon loons will have recovered when

their population returns to prespill levels in theoil- spill area. An increasing population trendin Prince William Sound will indicate that re-covery is underway.

BBBBBLACKLACKLACKLACKLACK O O O O OYSTERCATCHERSYSTERCATCHERSYSTERCATCHERSYSTERCATCHERSYSTERCATCHERS

Injury and RecoveryBlack oystercatchers spend their entire

lives in or near intertidal habitats and are highlyvulnerable to oil pollution. It is estimated that1,500-2,000 oystercatchers breed in south-cen-tral Alaska. Only nine carcasses of adult oys-tercatchers were recovered following the spill,but the actual number of mortalities may havebeen considerably higher.

In addition to direct mortalities, breedingactivities were disrupted by the oil and cleanupactivities. When comparing 1989 with 1991,significantly fewer pairs occupied and main-tained nests on oiled Green Island, while dur-ing the same two years the number of pairsand nests remained similar on unoiledMontague Island. Nest success on Green Is-land was significantly lower in 1989 than in1991, but Green Island nest success in 1989was not lower than on Montague Island. In1989, chicks disappeared from nests at a sig-nificantly greater rate on Green Island thanfrom nests on Montague Island. Disturbanceassociated with cleanup operations also re-duced productivity on Green Island in 1990.In general, the overt effects of the spill andcleanup had dissipated by 1991, and in thatyear productivity on Green Island exceededthat on Montague Island.

From 1991-1993, the Trustee Councilsponsored a study to determine if there wereany persistent effects of the spill on breedingsuccess and feeding ecology of black oyster-

catchers on Knight Island. Adult oystercatch-ers foraged in oiled mussel beds, but also ob-tained invertebrate prey at unoiled sites. Aslate as 1993, there was direct evidence of hy-drocarbon exposure from fecal samples ofchicks raised on persistently oiled shorelines,but areas of contamination were patchily dis-tributed and relatively few adults and youngwere exposed. In 1989, chicks raised on oiledshorelines gained weight more slowly thanchicks reared on unoiled shores, but the slowerweight gain was not manifested in reducedfledging success. Surveys from 1991-1993 in-dicated that the population inhabitating KnightIsland was not increasing. Hydrocarbon ex-posure has not been tested since 1993.

Productivity and survival of black oys-tercatchers in Prince William Sound were notmonitored from 1993 through 1997. Boat-based surveys of marine birds in the sound didnot indicate recovery in numbers of oyster-catchers in oiled areas through 1998, but thesesurveys were not specifically designed tomonitor oystercatchers.

In 1998 the Trustee Council sponsored astudy to reassess the status of this species inPrince William Sound. Only preliminary re-sults are available, but these data indicate thatoystercatchers have fully reoccupied and arenesting at oiled sites in the sound. The breed-ing phenology of nesting birds was relativelysynchronous in oiled and unoiled areas, andno oil-related differences in clutch size, egg

volume, or chick growth rates were detected.A high rate of nest failures on Green Islandprobably can be attributed to predation, not lin-gering effects of oil. Given general agree-ment between these new results and thoseof the earlier work, which indicated that theeffects of the spill had largely dissipated by1991, recovery of black oystercatchersclearly is underway.

Black oystercatchers nest on rockybeaches and have benefited enormously fromthe habitat protection program, including theacquisition of more than 1,200 miles of ma-rine shoreline. In addition, introduced foxeswere eliminated from two of the ShumaginIslands (Simeonof and Chernabura) in thesouthwestern part of the spill area. Black oys-tercatchers were present in low densities onboth islands, and in higher densities on nearbyfox-free islands. Although the nesting birdshave not been surveyed since 1995, when thelast of the foxes was removed, the eliminationof the introduced predators should increasepopulations of nesting oystercatchers.Recovery Objective

Black oystercatchers will have recoveredwhen the population returns to prespill levelsand reproduction is within normal bounds. Anincreasing population trend and comparablehatching success and growth rates of chicks inoiled and unoiled areas, after taking into ac-count geographic differences, will indicate thatrecovery is underway.


CCCCCLAMSLAMSLAMSLAMSLAMS

CCCCCOMMONOMMONOMMONOMMONOMMON M M M M MURRESURRESURRESURRESURRES

Injury and RecoveryAbout 30,000 carcasses of oiled birds

were picked up in the first four months fol-lowing the oil spill, and 74 percent of themwere common and thick-billed murres(mostly common murres). Many moremurres probably died than actually were re-covered. Based on surveys of index breed-ing colonies at such locations as the BarrenIslands, Chiswell Islands, Triplet Islands,Puale Bay, and Ugiaushak Island, the spill-area population may have declined by about40 percent following the spill. In additionto direct losses of murres, there is evidencethat the timing of reproduction was disruptedand productivity reduced. Interpretation ofthe effects of the spill, however, is compli-cated by incomplete prespill data and by in-dications that populations at some colonieswere in decline before the oil spill.

Postspill monitoring at the breeding colo-nies in the Barren Islands indicated that repro-ductive success was again within normal

bounds by 1993, and it has stayed within thesebounds each breeding season since then. Dur-ing the period 1993-1997, the murres nestedprogressively earlier by 2-5 days each year,suggesting that the age and experience of nest-ing birds was increasing, as might be expectedafter a mass mortality event. By 1997, num-bers of murres at the Barren Islands had in-creased, probably because 3-and 4-year oldnonbreeding subadult birds that were hatchedthere in 1993 and 1994 were returning to theirnatal nesting colony. This information sug-gests that recovery is well underway, al-though the strong 1998 El Niño event ap-parently disrupted timing and synchronyof nesting at the Barren and Chiswell islandsand may, to some extent, have affected re-productive success. The Barren Islands colo-nies will be surveyed again in 1999.

Although Prince William Sound doesnot have a large summer population ofmurres, boat-based surveys of marine birdsbefore and after the oil spill indicated a nega-

tive effect on numbers in the sound. Sur-veys carried out through 1998 have notshown any increase in murres since the spill.

The Alaska Predator Ecosystem Experi-ment (APEX project), funded by the TrusteeCouncil, is investigating the linkage betweenmurre populations and changes in the abun-dance of forage fish, such as Pacific herring,sand lance, and capelin. Historical trawl dataanalyzed as part of this project supported adecision by the North Pacific Fishery Man-agement Council to limit bycatch of foragefish in commercial fisheries and to precludethe startup of fisheries targeting forage fish(not including herring).Recovery Objective

Common murres will have recoveredwhen populations at index colonies havereturned to prespill levels and when produc-tivity is sustained within normal bounds.Increasing population trends at index colo-nies will be a further indication that recov-ery is underway.

Injury and RecoveryThe magnitude of immediate impacts

on clam populations varied with the speciesof clam, degree of oiling, and location. Datafrom the lower intertidal zone on shelteredbeaches suggested that littleneck clams and,to a lesser extent, butter clams were killedand suffered slower growth rates as a resultof the oil spill and cleanup activities.

Since the original damage assessmentwork on clams in 1989 and 1990, the TrusteeCouncil has not sponsored additional stud-ies focused specifically on clam injury andrecovery. Some insights are available fromprojects carried out by the NOAA Hazard-ous Materials Division and others on inter-tidal and subtidal communities in relationto oil and shoreline treatments. In general,these studies indicate that intertidal faunadwelling in soft sediments, including vari-ous clam species, had rebounded withinone-three years after 1989 on oiled-but-un-

treated shorelines. On these shorelines,abundances or trends in abundance of inter-tidal fauna were parallel or similar to thoseat unoiled, untreated sites. One study docu-mented that concentrations of hydrocarbonsin littleneck clam tissues at oiled and unoiledsites were not significantly different by1993. These results indicate that recoveryis underway.

Clearly, however, full recovery has notbeen achieved, especially on shorelines thatwere oiled and treated by hot-water washes.For example, one study found that densitiesof littleneck and butter clams were depressedthrough 1996 on oiled, treated mixed-sedi-mentary shores where fine sediments hadbeen washed downslope during pressuredwater treatments. Comparing oiled studysites on Knight Island with unoiled sites onMontague Island, researchers in theNearshore Vertebrate Predator project founda full range of size classes of clams at the

oiled sites, as well as more large clams.However, oiled sites also had fewer juve-nile clams and lower numbers of severalspecies. Based on all of the evidence sum-marized above, clams are recovering, butare not yet fully recovered from the ef-fects of the oil spill.

In communities on the Kenai Peninsula,Kodiak Island, the Alaska Peninsula and inPrince William Sound there are lingeringconcerns about the effects of the oil spill onclams. The Trustee Council sponsored aproject to help restore subsistence uses ofclams (see subsistence).

Recovery objectiveClams will have recovered when popu-

lations and productivity have returned tolevels that would have prevailed in the ab-sence of the oil spill, based on comparisonsof oiled and unoiled sites.


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CCCCCORMORANTSORMORANTSORMORANTSORMORANTSORMORANTS

Injury and RecoveryCormorants are large fish-eating birds

that spend much of their time on the wateror perched on rocks near the water. Threespecies typically are found within the oil-spill area.

Carcasses of 838 cormorants were recov-ered following the oil spill, including 418pelagic, 161 red-faced, 38 double-crested, and221 unidentified cormorants. Many morecormorants probably died as a result of thespill, but their carcasses were not found.

No regional population estimates areavailable for any of the cormorant speciesfound in the oil-spill area. In 1996, the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Seabird

Colony Catalog, however, listed counts of7,161 pelagic cormorants, 8,967 red-facedcormorants, and 1,558 double-crested cor-morants in the oil-spill area. These aredirect counts at colonies, not overall popu-lation estimates, but they suggest thatpopulation sizes are small. In this con-text, it appears that injury to all three cor-morant species was significant.

Counts on the outer Kenai Peninsulacoast suggested that the direct mortality ofcormorants due to oil resulted in fewer birdsin this area in 1989 compared to 1986. Inaddition, there were statistically-significantdeclines in the estimated numbers of cor-morants (all three species combined) in the

oiled portion of Prince William Soundbased on pre- and postspill boat surveys inJuly 1972-73 compared to 1989-91. Morerecent surveys (through 1998) have notshown an increasing population trendsince the oil spill, and for that reasonthese species are considered to be notrecovered.

Recovery ObjectivePelagic, red-faced, and double-crested

cormorants will have recovered when theirpopulations return to prespill levels in theoil-spill area. An increasing population trendin Prince William Sound will indicate thatrecovery is underway.

CCCCCUTTHROATUTTHROATUTTHROATUTTHROATUTTHROAT T T T T TROUTROUTROUTROUTROUT

Injury and RecoveryPrince William Sound is at the northwest-

ern limit of the range of cutthroat trout. Localcutthroat trout populations are believed to besmall, and the fish have small home rangesand are geographically isolated. Cutthroattrout, therefore, are highly vulnerable to ex-ploitation, habitat alteration, or pollution.

Following the oil spill, cutthroat trout ina small number of oiled index streams inPrince William Sound grew more slowly thanin unoiled streams. The apparent differencein growth rates persisted through 1991. Itwas hypothesized that the slower rate ofgrowth in oiled streams was the result of re-duced food supplies or exposure to oil, andthere was concern that reduced growth rateswould result in reduced survival.

Preliminary data from a Trustee Coun-cil-sponsored study of resident and anadro-mous forms of cutthroat trout in Prince Wil-liam Sound suggest that there is significantgenetic variation among trout from differ-ent locations across the sound. These dataare consistent with the idea that cutthroatpopulations are small and isolated. Thiswork is being completed in FY 1999 andshould make possible insights into such is-sues as growth rates with respect to geo-

graphic variation. Pending this additionalwork, the recovery status of the cutthroattrout remains unknown.

Cutthroat trout have benefited from sev-eral other projects sponsored by the TrusteeCouncil. In 1991-93, in response to the earlyevidence of injury to cutthroat trout, sportharvests were temporarily restricted in PrinceWilliam Sound. In 1994, out of concern aboutthe long-term conservation status of this spe-cies, the Alaska Board of Fisheries perma-nently closed sport harvests during the April15-June 15 spawning season in the sound.

The TrusteeCouncil sponsored in-ventories of streamsin and around PrinceWilliam Sound toidentify cutthroattrout habitat and thepresence or absenceof this species. Infor-mation from these in-ventories has beenadded to the AlaskaDepartment of Fishand Game’s Anadro-mous Waters Catalog,and this step brings to

bear additional legal protection under statelaw in regard to actions affecting thesestreams. Additional habitat for cutthroat trouthas been protected from among the more than280 anadromous fish streams that have beenacquired through the Trustee Council’s habi-tat protection program.

Recovery ObjectiveCutthroat trout will have recovered

when growth rates within oiled areas aresimilar to those for unoiled areas, after tak-ing into account geographic differences.

Cutthroat TroutPhoto by Roy Corral


DDDDDESIGNATEDESIGNATEDESIGNATEDESIGNATEDESIGNATED W W W W WILDERNESSILDERNESSILDERNESSILDERNESSILDERNESS A A A A AREASREASREASREASREAS

DDDDDOLLYOLLYOLLYOLLYOLLY V V V V VARDENARDENARDENARDENARDEN

Injury and RecoveryDolly Varden are widely distributed in

the spill area. In spring, anadromous formsof Dolly Varden migrate to the sea from thelakes and rivers where they spend the win-ter. Summers are spent feeding in nearshoremarine waters. Thus, some Dolly Varden inPrince William Sound and perhaps at otherlocations were exposed to Exxon Valdez oilin 1989 and possibly beyond. In fact, con-centrations of hydrocarbons in the bile ofDolly Varden were some of the highest ofany fish sampled in 1989. By 1990, theseconcentrations had dropped substantially.

Like the cutthroat trout, there is evi-dence from 1989-90 that Dolly Varden in asmall number of oiled index streams inPrince William Sound grew more slowlythan in unoiled streams. It was hypothesizedthat the slower rate of growth in oiledstreams was the result of reduced food sup-plies or exposure to oil, and there was con-cern that reduced growth rates would result

in reduced survival. However, these growthdifferences did not persist into the 1990-91winter. No growth data have been gatheredsince 1991.

In a 1991 restoration study sponsoredby the Trustee Council, some tagged DollyVarden moved considerable distancesamong streams within Prince WilliamSound, suggesting that mixing of overwin-tering stocks takes place during the summersin saltwater. This hypothesis is supportedby preliminary data from another TrusteeCouncil-sponsored study, which indicatesthat Dolly Varden from different locationsacross the sound are genetically similar. Thefinal report on this genetics study is due in1999, but if this preliminary conclusion isborn out, it would suggest that the DollyVarden population in the sound should havelittle difficulty in recovering from any ini-tial growth-related effects. Pendingcompletion of the genetics work and ab-sent additional growth data, however, it

is prudent to continue classifying theDolly Varden as recovery unknown.

The Trustee Council sponsored inven-tories of streams in and around Prince Wil-liam Sound to identify Dolly Varden habi-tat and the presence or absence of this spe-cies. Information from these inventorieshas been added to the Alaska Departmentof Fish and Game’s Anadromous WatersCatalog, and this step brings to bear addi-tional legal protection under state law inregard to actions affecting these streams.Additional habitat for Dolly Varden hasbeen protected from among the more than280 anadromous fish streams that havebeen acquired through the TrusteeCouncil’s habitat protection program.

Recovery ObjectiveDolly Varden will have recovered when

growth rates within oiled streams are com-parable to those in unoiled streams, aftertaking into account geographic differences.

Kenai Fjords National Park

Injury and RecoveryThe oil spill delivered oil in varying

quantities to the waters and tidelands adjoin-ing eight areas designated as wilderness ar-eas and wilderness study areas by Congressor the Alaska State Legislature. Oil also wasdeposited above the mean high-tide line atthese locations. During the intense clean-upseasons of 1989 and 1990, thousands ofworkers and hundreds of pieces of equip-ment were at work in the spill zone. Thisactivity was an unprecedented imposition ofpeople, noise, and activity on the area’s un-developed and normally sparsely occupiedlandscape. Although activity levels on thesewilderness shores have probably returned tonormal, at some locations there is still re-sidual oil.

Among the affected areas were desig-nated wilderness in the Katmai NationalPark, wilderness study areas in the ChugachNational Forest and Kenai Fjords NationalPark, and Kachemak Bay Wilderness State

Park. Six moderately to heavily oiled siteson the Kenai and Katmai coasts were lastsurveyed in 1994, at which time some oilmousse persisted in a remarkably unweath-ered state on boulder-armored beaches atfive sites. These sites will be visited againin 1999. Pending completion of these vis-its, and additional visits to oiled shorelines

in western Prince William Sound, the re-covery status of designated wildernessremains unknown.Recovery Objective

Designated wilderness areas will haverecovered when oil is no longer encounteredin them and the public perceives them to berecovered from the spill.

Photo by Roy Corral


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HHHHHARLEQUINARLEQUINARLEQUINARLEQUINARLEQUIN D D D D DUCKSUCKSUCKSUCKSUCKS

Injury and RecoveryHarlequin ducks feed in intertidal and

shallow subtidal habitats where most of thespilled oil was initially stranded. More than200 harlequin ducks were found dead in1989, mostly in Prince William Sound.Many more than that number probably diedthroughout the spill area. Because the spilloccurred in early spring before winteringharlequins migrated from the sound to in-land breeding sites, the initial effects of thespill were likely extended beyond the im-mediate spill zone. The geographic extentof these extended impacts is not known.

The current overwintering population ofharlequin ducks in Prince William Sound ison the order of 18,000 ducks, while the sum-mer population is about half that number.Fall boat surveys designed specifically tomonitor molting-wintering harlequin ducksindicate a significant declining trend in thewestern sound. Other boat surveys designedto monitor an entire suite of marine birds inthe sound have shown mixed results: an in-creasing trend in March but no increase inJuly through 1996. All three surveys, how-ever, are consistent in that they show differ-ent or lower trends for harlequin ducks inoiled parts of the sound compared to unoiledparts.

Prespill data on harlequin populationsand reproductive success are limited anddifficult to interpret, but previously there wasconcern about poor reproductive success inthe western versus eastern parts of PrinceWilliam Sound. This concern was based onobservations of 7-15 broods in the easternsound and few-to-no reports of broods in thewestern sound when comparable numbersof streams were surveyed. Subsequent re-search does not indicate any differences inthe age- and sex-structure of harlequin popu-lations in the eastern and western parts ofthe sound, but it is clear that the breedinghabitat in the western sound is very limitedcompared to what is available in the easternsound. Some harlequins remain in the soundto nest, mostly on the eastern side, but it isnow suspected that most harlequins of breed-

geological time. To the extent that there issubadult dispersal from adjacent expandingpopulations, such dispersal would enhancerecovery. It is likely, however, that recov-ery will largely depend on recruitment andsurvival from within injured populations.This recovery may be compromised if ex-posure to lingering hydrocarbons reducesfitness and survival of harlequin ducks

The Trustee Council has made a ma-jor investment in harlequin ducks, study-ing the possibility of on-going oil-relatedeffects, gaining knowledge that will ben-efit long-term management and conserva-tion, and protecting nesting and overwin-tering habitats. Harlequin ducks nest alonganadromous fish streams, typically underforest cover and at higher elevations. Someof the more than 280 anadromous fishstreams protected with the support of theTrustee Council provide nesting habitat forharlequin ducks. Molting and overwinter-ing habitats are protected along the morethan 1,200 miles of marine shorelines ac-quired through the habitat protection pro-gram. As a result, the terrestrial portion ofthe habitat base for harlequin ducks in thespill area is now significantly more secure.

Recovery ObjectiveHarlequin ducks will have recovered

when breeding- and nonbreeding-seasondensities return to prespill levels. An in-creasing population and decreasing indica-tions of exposure to hydrocarbons in oiledparts of Prince William Sound will indicatethat recovery is underway.

ing age and condition probably leave thesound altogether to nest in interior drainages.Thus, conclusions of reproductive failurebased on lack of broods in the oiled area donot now seem warranted.

Biopsies from samples of harlequinducks collected early in 1998 and fromBarrow’s goldeneye in the 1996-1997 win-ter continue to show differences in an en-zyme indicative of exposure to hydrocar-bons between birds from oiled versusunoiled parts of the sound. These differ-ences are consistent with the possibility ofcontinued exposure to hydrocarbons in theoiled western sound. The biological effectof this possible exposure has not been es-tablished, but three years of data (1995/96-97/98 winters) on overwintering survivalof adult female harlequins indicate signifi-cantly lower survival rates in oiled versusunoiled parts of the sound. This result can-not be attributed unequivocally to oil ex-posure, but there is reason for concernabout possible oil exposure and reducedsurvival for harlequin ducks in the westernsound. This information, coupled withindication of a possible on-going declinein numbers of molting harlequin ducksin the western sound, suggest that theharlequin duck has not recovered fromthe effects of the oil spill.

Recent Trustee Council-sponsored stud-ies give insight into prospects for recoveryof harlequin ducks. Although some harle-quin ducks make major seasonal move-ments, they exhibit high site fidelity to sum-mer breeding sites and to molting and win-tering sites during nonbreedingseasons. Strong site fidelitymay limit population recoveryby immigration, but a geneticanalysis of harlequin ducks in-dicates that the spill-area popu-lation is homogeneous (i.e., verysimilar). Taken together, thesedata are consistent with a lowrate of dispersal, perhaps at thesubadult stage, or a rapid expan-sion of the population in recent

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1 1Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

HHHHHARBORARBORARBORARBORARBOR S S S S SEALSEALSEALSEALSEALS

Injury and RecoveryHarbor seal numbers were declining in

the Gulf of Alaska, including in Prince Wil-liam Sound, before the oil spill. ExxonValdez oil affected harbor seal habitats, in-cluding key haul-out areas and adjacentwaters, in Prince William Sound and as faraway as Tugidak Island, near Kodiak. Esti-mated mortality as a direct result of the oilspill was about 300 seals in oiled parts ofPrince William Sound. Based on aerial sur-veys conducted at trend-count haulout sitesin central Prince William Sound before(1988) and after (1989) the oil spill, seals inoiled areas declined by 43 percent, comparedto 11 percent in unoiled areas.

In a declining population deaths exceedbirths, and harbor seals in both oiled andunoiled parts of Prince William Sound havecontinued to decline since the spill. For theperiod 1989-1997, the average estimatedannual rate of decline was about 5 percent,and for that reason harbor seals continueto be considered “not recovered.” Envi-ronmental changes in the late 1970s may havereduced the amount or quality of prey re-sources, including such forage fishes as Pa-cific herring and capelin, available to harborseals in the northern Gulf of Alaska ecosys-

tem. These changesmay have been re-sponsible for or con-tributed to the initialprespill harbor sealdecline, and the eco-system may nowsupport fewer sealsthan it did prior to

of recovery in the population, includinghealth and diet. One study quantified nor-mal blood chemistry values for several hun-dred seals; this database serves as a valu-able tool for evaluating the health status ofother seals. Starting in 1998, several projectsexploring blood chemistry and other healthparameters in relation to diet are being car-ried out at the Alaska SeaLife Center.

Harbor seals have long been a key sub-sistence resource in the oil-spill area. Sub-sistence hunting is affected by the declin-ing seal population, and fewer opportuni-ties to hunt seals have changed the diets ofsubsistence users who traditionally reliedon these marine mammals. With partialsupport from the Trustee Council, theAlaska Native Harbor Seal Commission isworking to involve Native hunters in re-search on and management of harbor seals.Alaska Native subsistence hunters havebeen helpful by providing seal researcherswith measurements and hard-to-obtain tis-sue samples from harvested seals.

Recovery ObjectiveHarbor seals will have recovered from

the effects of the oil spill when their popu-lation is stable or increasing.

IIIIINTERTIDALNTERTIDALNTERTIDALNTERTIDALNTERTIDAL COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

Injury and RecoveryPortions of 1,300 miles of coastline

were oiled by the spill in Prince WilliamSound, on the Kenai and Alaska peninsulas,and in the Kodiak Archipelago. Both theoil and intensive clean-up activities had sig-nificant impacts on the flora and fauna ofthe intertidal zone, the area of beach betweenlow and high tides. Intertidal communitiesare intrinsically important and are resourcesfor subsistence users, sea and river otters,and a variety of birds, including black oys-tercatchers, harlequin ducks, and pigeonguillemots.

Initial impacts to intertidal organismsoccurred at all tidal levels and in all types of

habitats throughout the oil-spill area. Manyspecies of algae and invertebrates were lessabundant at oiled sites than at unoiled refer-ence sites. Some, more opportunistic spe-cies, including a small species of barnacle,oligochaete worms, and filamentous brownalgae, colonized shores affected by the oilspill and clean-up activities. The abundanceand reproductive potential of the commonseaweed, Fucus gardneri (known as rock-weed or popweed), also was reduced follow-ing the spill.

In the lower and middle intertidalzones on oiled rocky shores, algal cover-age and invertebrate abundances had re-turned by 1991 to coverages and abun-

dances similar to those observed in unoiledareas. However, large fluctuations in thealgal coverage took place through 1997 inthe oiled areas. This pattern is consistentwith continued instability due to the origi-nal spill impact and the subsequentcleanup.

On the sheltered, bedrock shores thatare common in Prince William Sound, fullrecovery of Fucus is crucial for the recov-ery of intertidal communities at these sites,since many invertebrate organisms dependon the cover provided by this seaweed. Fu-cus has not yet fully recovered in the up-per intertidal zone on shores subjected todirect sunlight, but in many locations, re-

the late 1970s. Recent studies, however, in-dicate that the seals in the sound, especiallypups and yearlings, are in very good condi-tion and do not show evidence of nutritionalstress. On-going sources of mortality includekiller whale predation, subsistence hunting,and commercial fishery interactions (e.g.,drowning in nets). Satellite tagging studiessponsored by the Trustee Council indicate thatharbor seals in the sound are largely residentthroughout the year, suggesting that recov-ery must come largely through recruitmentand survival within injured populations.

Harbor seals have been a major focusof research sponsored by the Trustee Coun-cil since the oil spill. This research includesdocumentation of population trends in thefield, improved statistical techniques for theanalysis of aerial survey data, and explora-tion of possible sources of mortality and lack

Harbor Seal


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covery of intertidal communities has beensubstantial. In other habitat types, such asestuaries and cobble beaches, many speciesdid not show signs of recovery when theywere last surveyed in 1991. In studies of theeffects of cleanup activities on beaches, in-vertebrate molluscs and annelid worms onoiled and washed beaches were still muchless abundant than on comparable unoiledbeaches through 1997.

Beyond describing the effects of the oilspill and cleanup operations, the TrusteeCouncil’s restoration program has benefitedintertidal communities in several respects.

Although most tidelands in the spill area arealready in state ownership, Trustee Councilfunds enabled the protection of sedge andmudflat habitats on the Homer Spit and en-hanced protection of and access to rockyintertidal habitats at Kachemak Bay and atLowell Point near Seward. Research andmonitoring sponsored by the Trustee Coun-cil have greatly expanded knowledge of thedistribution and ecology of north Pacific in-tertidal organisms, such as sea stars, andhave provided models for statistically pow-erful sampling designs that can be incorpo-rated into future injury assessments.

Recovery ObjectiveIntertidal communities will have recov-

ered when community composition on oiledshorelines is similar to that which wouldhave prevailed in the absence of the spill.Indications of recovery are the reestablish-ment of important species, such as Fucus atsheltered rocky sites, the convergence incommunity composition and organism abun-dance on oiled and unoiled shorelines, andthe provision of adequate, uncontaminatedfood supplies for top predators in intertidaland nearshore habitats.

KKKKKITTLITZITTLITZITTLITZITTLITZITTLITZ’’’’’SSSSS M M M M MURRELETSURRELETSURRELETSURRELETSURRELETS

Injury and RecoveryThe Kittlitz’s murrelet is found only in

Alaska and portions of the Russian Far East.A large fraction of the world population,which may number only a few tens of thou-sands, breeds in Prince William Sound. TheKenai Peninsula coast and Kachemak Bay arealso important concentration areas for thisspecies. Very little is known about Kittlitz’smurrelets, but they are known to associateclosely with tidewater glaciers and nest onscree slopes and similar sites on the ground.

Seventy-two Kittlitz’s murrelets werepositively identified among the bird carcassesrecovered after the oil spill. Nearly 450 moreBrachyramphus murrelets were not identifiedto the species level, and it is reasonable toassume that some of these were Kittlitz’s. Inaddition, many more murrelets probably werekilled by the oil than were actually recovered.

One published estimate places direct mortal-ity of Kittlitz’s murrelets from the oil spill ashigh as 1,000-2,000 individuals, which wouldrepresent a substantial fraction of the worldpopulation.

Because so little is known about this spe-cies, the Trustee Council funded an explor-atory study on the ecology and distributionof the Kittlitiz’s murrelet in Prince WilliamSound starting in 1996. Final results fromthis project are not yet available, but prelimi-nary data confirm this species’ affinity fortidewater glaciers in the four bays studied inthe northern and northwestern parts of thesound. It also appears that reproductive out-put in 1996 and 1997 was extremely low orabsent, and some Kittlitz’s murrelets wereapparently paired with marbled murrelets.There appear to be about 1,200-1,400Kittlitz’s murrelets during summer in the four

bays studied in northern and northwesternsound. Other, more extensive marine birdboat surveys suggest a sound-wide summerpopulation of at least 3,400 murrelets. Theseestimates are consistent with what is believedto be a small Alaskan and world population.

The population data, indications of lowreproductive success, and affinity to tidewa-ter glaciers (of which the lower elevation gla-ciers are receding rapidly) are reasons forconcern about the long-term conservation ofKittlitz’s murrelets. Specifically with refer-ence to the effects of the oil spill, however,the original extent of the injury and its re-covery status are still unknown and maynever be resolved.

Recovery ObjectiveNo recovery objective can be identified

for Kittlitz’s murrelet at this time.

KKKKKILLERILLERILLERILLERILLER W W W W WHALESHALESHALESHALESHALES

Injury and RecoveryMore than 100 killer whales in six “resi-

dent” pods regularly use Prince WilliamSound as part of their ranges. Other whalesin “transient” groups are observed in thesound less frequently. There has been par-ticular concern in the sound about the resi-dent AB pod, which numbered 36 animals

prior to the spill. Fourteen whales disap-peared from this pod in 1989 and 1990, dur-ing which time no young were recruited intothe population. During the period 1992-94,four calves were added to the pod, but fiveadditional adults were lost and presumeddead. During the most recent period, 1996-98, fives calves were recruited and only two

adults were lost—a net gain of three individu-als since 1992. If the calves born since 1992survive and if additional calves are added tothe pod over the next two or more years, therequirements for recovery will have been sat-isfied. Pending evidence of sustained re-cruitment or at least stability, the kill whaleis still considered to be not recovering.


The original link between the AB podlosses and the oil spill was circumstantial.The rate of disappearance and likely mortal-ity of killer whales in this well-studied podin Prince William Sound following the spillfar exceeded rates observed for other pods inBritish Columbia and Puget Sound over thelast 20 years. In addition to the effects of theoil spill, there had been concern about thepossible shooting of killer whales due to con-flicts with long-line fisheries prior to the oilspill. There are no recent indications of suchconflicts.

Overall numbers within the major resi-dent killer whale pods in Prince WilliamSound are at or exceed prespill levels, eventhough the AB pod may or may not regain itsformer size. There is concern, however, thata decline in resightings of individuals withinthe AT1 group of transient killer whales hasaccelerated following the oil spill. Since 1990and 1991, 10 individuals have been missingfrom the AT group and are now almost cer-tainly dead. During that same period therehas been no recruitment of calves into this

group of transients. Transient killer whaleslargely prey on marine mammals, and therehas been a 60 percent decline in the harborseal population in the sound over the last twodecades. Changes in the availability of suchan important prey species could influencekiller whale distribution and reproduction.

Trustee Council-sponsored research oncontaminants in killer whales in Prince Will-iam Sound indicates that some whales arecarrying high concentrations of PCBs, DDT,and DDT metabolites in their blubber. Thepresence of such contaminants is not relatedto the oil spill. Contaminants are significantlyhigher in the mammal-eating transients thanin the fish-eating residents, consistent withthe fact that contaminants bioaccumulate—that is they are more concentrated at highertrophic levels. Concentrations are highest infirst-born calves, indicating that contaminantsare passed on by nursing females. The highconcentrations of contaminants found in thetransient whales, including those in the AT1group, are comparable to those found to causereproductive problems in other marine mam-

mals, but there is no unequivocal evidenceof a link between contaminants and poor re-production in the AT1 group.

Other work sponsored by the TrusteeCouncil includes a detailed genetic analysisthat has shown definitively that resident andtransient killer whales in Prince WilliamSound are genetically distinct. The TrusteeCouncil also has sponsored development ofacoustic techniques for identifying and moni-toring killer whales. Data on sightings andmovements of killer whales indicate that thearea around Knight Island and passages toKnight Island are among the most heavilyused parts of Prince William Sound by bothresident and transient killer whales. Use ofthe outer Kenai coast, including ResurrectionBay, appears to be increasing.

Recovery ObjectiveKiller whales in the AB pod will have

recovered when the number of individualsin the pod is stable or increasing relative tothe trends of other major resident pods inPrince William Sound.

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MMMMMARBLEDARBLEDARBLEDARBLEDARBLED M M M M MURRELETSURRELETSURRELETSURRELETSURRELETS

MMMMMUSSELSUSSELSUSSELSUSSELSUSSELS

Injury and RecoveryMussels are an important prey species

in the nearshore ecosystem throughout thespill area and are locally important for sub-sistence. Beds of mussels provide physicalstability and habitat for other organisms inthe intertidal zone and were purposely leftalone during Exxon Valdez cleanup opera-tions.

In 1991, high concentrations of relativelyunweathered oil were found in the musselsand in underlying byssal mats and sedimentsin certain dense mussel beds. The biologicalsignificance of mussel beds that are still oiledis not known precisely, but they are potential

pathways of oil contamination for local popu-lations of harlequin ducks, black oystercatch-ers, river otters, and sea otters, all of whichfeed to some extent on mussels and other preyin and around mussel beds and which wereinjured by the oil spill. The Trustee Council’sNearshore Vertebrate Predator project hasevidence of possible hydrocarbon exposurein sea otters, river otters, harlequin ducks, andBarrow’s goldeneyes in oiled parts of PrinceWilliam Sound through 1996 or 1997, but thepathway of such exposure has not been es-tablished.

About 30 mussel beds in Prince Will-iam Sound still contained Exxon Valdez oil

residue when last sampled in 1995. Twelveof these beds had been cleaned on an experi-mental basis in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, oilhydrocarbon concentrations in mussels at halfthe treated beds were lower than would havebeen expected if the beds had not beencleaned. In 1996, however, limited samplingindicated that several of the cleaned beds hadbeen recontaminated from surrounding orunderlying oil residue.

Mussel beds along the outer Kenai Pen-insula coast, the Alaska Peninsula, andKodiak Archipelago were surveyed for thepresence of oil in 1992, 1993, and 1995. In1995, hydrocarbon concentrations in mussels

Injury and RecoveryThe northern Gulf of Alaska, including

Prince William Sound, is a key area of con-centration in the distribution of marbledmurrelets. The marbled murrelet is feder-ally listed as a threatened species in Wash-ington, Oregon, and California; it also islisted as threatened in British Columbia.

The marbled murrelet population inPrince William Sound had declined beforethe oil spill. The causes of the prespill de-cline are not known for certain, but envi-ronmental changes in the late 1970s prob-ably reduced the availability or quality ofprey resources. There is, nonetheless, clearevidence that oil caused injury to marbledmurrelets in the sound. Carcasses of nearly1,100 Brachyramphus murrelets were foundafter the spill, and about 90 percent of themurrelets that could be identified to the spe-cies level were marbled murrelets. Manymore murrelets probably were killed by theoil than were found, perhaps as much as 7percent of the spill area population.

The recovery of the marbled murreletpopulation in Prince William Sound is as-sessed primarily through standard marinebird boat surveys. Based on a recent analy-sis of data from boat surveys carried out inJuly for most years from 1989-1998, densi-

ties of marbled murrelets increased substan-tially in oiled parts of the sound during 1990-1993, but declined again in 1996 and 1998.Densities of murrelets in unoiled parts of thesound also declined in 1996 and 1998, sothe reason for the recent declines in bothoiled and unoiled areas is probably due tosome factor other than the oil spill.

The Trustee Council’s recovery objec-tive requires a stable or increasing popula-tion for marbled murrelets; stable or increas-ing productivity would indicate that recov-ery is underway. The marbled murreletpopulation is not now stable nor increasing,but the increase in oiled areas from 1990-1993 is a positive sign. In addition, marbledmurrelet productivity, as measured by sur-veys of adults and juveniles on the water inPrince William Sound, appears to be withinnormal bounds. On these bases, it appearsthat the marbled murrelet is at least re-covering from the effects of the oil spill.

Marbled murrelets have been a majorfocus of the Trustee Council’s restorationprogram, including both habitat protectionand research and monitoring activities.Marbled murrelets are known to nest inlarge, mossy trees within stands of old-growth forest. Following the oil spill,Trustee Council researchers identified spe-

cific habitat types and areas within the spillzone that are especially valuable to nestingmurrelets. Much of the 600,000 acres ofhabitat protected with Trustee Council fundsis forested, including significant habitat thatis suitable for and used by nesting murrelets(for example, on Afognak Island).

In the area of research and monitoring,the Trustee Council’s Alaska Predator Eco-system Experiment (APEX) project is inves-tigating the relationship between marbledmurrelet declines and the availability andabundance of forage fish, such as Pacificherring, sand lance, and capelin. It appearsthat there is a direct correlation between theavailability of forage fish and production ofyoung murrelets, based on the presence ofjuvenile murrelets on the water in PrinceWilliam Sound. Historical trawl data ana-lyzed as part of this project supported a de-cision by the North Pacific Fishery Manage-ment Council to limit bycatch of forage fishin commercial fisheries and to preclude thestartup of fisheries targeting forage fish (notincluding herring).Recovery Objective

Marbled murrelets will have recoveredwhen their populations are stable or increas-ing. Stable or increasing productivity willbe an indication that recovery is underway.


and sediments at these Gulf of Alaska siteswere generally lower than for sites in PrinceWilliam Sound, but at some sites substantialconcentrations persist.

While several sites in Prince WilliamSound still contained high concentrations ofoil in 1995, over half the sites surveyed dem-onstrated significant natural declines that sug-gest background concentrations should bereached in the next few years. On this basis,

mussels are considered to be recovering. Oilcontamination in mussels, however, willlikely persist for many years at certain sitesthat are well protected from wave action orwhere oil penetrated deeply into underlyingsediments.

In 1999, a series of oiled mussel bedswill be inspected and monitored to track therecovery of this resource. Comparison ofmussel beds cleaned in 1994 to beds that were

not cleaned should provide valuable informa-tion for planning responses to future oil spills.

Recovery ObjectiveMussels will have recovered when con-

centrations of oil in the mussels and in thesediments below mussel beds reach back-ground levels, do not contaminate their preda-tors, and do not affect subsistence uses.

PPPPPACIFICACIFICACIFICACIFICACIFIC H H H H HERRINGERRINGERRINGERRINGERRING

Pacific Herring

Injury and RecoveryPacific herring spawned in intertidal

and subtidal habitats in Prince WilliamSound shortly after the oil spill. A signifi-cant portion of these spawning habitats aswell as herring staging areas in the soundwere contaminated by oil. Field studies con-ducted in 1989 and 1990 documented in-creased rates of egg mortality and larval de-formities in oiled versus unoiled areas. Sub-sequent laboratory studies confirm that theseeffects can be caused by exposure to ExxonValdez oil, but the significance of these in-juries at a population level is not known.

The 1988 prespill year-class of Pacificherring was very strong in Prince WilliamSound, and, as a result, the estimated peakbiomass of spawning adults in 1992 wasvery high. Despite the large spawning bio-mass in 1992, the population exhibited adensity-dependent reduction in size, and in1993 there was an unprecedented crash ofthe adult herring population. A viral diseaseand fungus were the probable immediateagents of mortality, but such other factorsas competition for food may have reducedherring fitness and survival. Laboratory in-vestigations since the population crash haveshown that exposure to very low concentra-tions of Exxon Valdez oil can compromisethe immune systems of adult herring andlead to expression of the viral disease. Theextent to which the exposure to oil contrib-uted to the 1993 disease outbreak is uncer-tain.

Numbers of spawning herring in PrinceWilliam Sound remained depressed through

the 1995 season. In 1997 and 1998 thespawning biomass was about double that of1994, the season following the crash, andthere were limited commercial harvests forherring in the sound. , The increased biom-asses in 1997 and 1998 are signs that recov-ery has begun. Unfortunately, the popula-tion has yet to recruit a highly successfulyear-class, which is fundamental to recov-ery of this species. Thus, a full recoveryhas not been achieved, and the Pacificherring can only be considered to be re-covering.

Because the Pacific herring is extremelyimportant ecologically and commerciallyand for subsistence users, the Trustee Coun-cil has made a major investment in restora-tion projects that benefit herring. In the areaof habitat protection, Trustee Council fundshave acquired more than 1,200 miles of up-land shorelines, some of which will helpprotect water quality in areas used by spawn-ing herring. Research sponsored by theTrustee Council also has identified bays thatare important as herring nursery and over-wintering areas, and this information will beuseful to natural resource managers for de-cisions about siting facilities or planningresponses to future oil spills.

The Trustee Council’s Sound Ecosys-tem Assessment has resulted in new under-standing of the importance of body condi-tion in determining overwintering survivalof herring and in the influences of the Gulfof Alaska in herring productivity withinPrince William Sound. Techniques for im-proving stock and spawning biomass assess-

ments through spawn deposition surveys andhydroacoustic and aerial surveys also havebeen supported by the Trustee Council. On-going research on herring disease in rela-tion to commercial fishing practices, suchas the enclosed “pound” fisheries, have di-rect implications for management of theherring fishery. Improvements in knowledgeabout the biology and ecology of herring andin assessment and management tools willenhance conservation and management ofthis species over the long term.

Recovery ObjectivePacific herring will have recovered

when the next highly successful year classis recruited into the fishery and when otherindicators of population health are sustainedwithin normal bounds in Prince WilliamSound.

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PPPPPINKINKINKINKINK S S S S SALMONALMONALMONALMONALMON

PPPPPIGEONIGEONIGEONIGEONIGEON G G G G GUILLEMOTSUILLEMOTSUILLEMOTSUILLEMOTSUILLEMOTS

Injury and RecoveryAlthough pigeon guillemots are widely

distributed in the north Pacific region, nowheredo they occur in large concentrations. Becauseguillemots feed in shallow, nearshore waters,the guillemots and the fish on which they preyare vulnerable to oil pollution.

Like the marbled murrelet, there is evi-dence that the pigeon guillemot population inPrince William Sound declined before the oilspill. The causes of the prespill decline are notknown for certain, but environmental changesin the late 1970s probably reduced the avail-ability or quality of prey resources. There is,nonetheless, clear evidence that oil caused in-jury to the guillemot population in the sound.An estimated 10-15 percent of the spill-areapopulation died immediately following thespill. Boat-based surveys of marine birds be-fore (1984-85) and after the oil spill indicatedthat the guillemot population declined through-out the oiled portion of the sound. These samesurveys indicate that numbers of guillem-ots remain depressed along oiled shorelines

in the sound through 1998, and for this rea-son the pigeon guillemot is still consideredto have not recovered from the effects ofthe oil spill.

The Trustee Council’s Alaska PredatorEcosystem Experiment (APEX) project is in-vestigating the possible link between pigeonguillemot declines and the availability of high-quality forage fish, such as Pacific herring andsand lance. This work has revealed a strongconnection between the availability of certainprey fishes, especially sand lance, andguillemot chick growth rates, fledging weights,and nesting population size. Historical trawldata analyzed as part of this project supporteda decision by the North Pacific Fishery Man-agement Council to limit bycatch of forage fishin commercial fisheries and to preclude thestartup of fisheries targeting forage fish (notincluding herring).

The Nearshore Vertebrate Predator (NVP)project, also sponsored by the Trustee Council,addresses the possibility that exposure to oil islimiting the guillemot’s recovery. Preliminary

biochemical data do not indicate that guillemotchicks are being exposed to hydrocarbons.

Pigeon guillemots nest in rock crevicesand under tree roots at the tops of rocky cliffsand steep slopes. They have benefited greatlyfrom the habitat protection program, includ-ing the acquisition of more than 1,200 milesof marine shoreline. In addition, introducedfoxes were eliminated from two of theShumagin Islands (Simeonof andChernabura) in the southwestern part of thespill area. Pigeon guillemots were present inlow densities on both islands, but in higherdensities on nearby fox-free islands. Al-though the nesting birds have not been sur-veyed since the foxes were removed in 1995,the elimination of this introduced predatorshould result in a large increase in the popu-lation of nesting guillemots.Recovery Objective

Pigeon guillemots will have recoveredwhen their population is stable or increasing.Sustained productivity within normal boundswill be an indication that recovery is underway.

Injury and RecoveryCertain features of the life history of pink

salmon made this species highly vulnerable todamage from the oil spill. As much as 75 per-cent of wild pink salmon in Prince WilliamSound spawn in the intertidal portions ofstreams, where embryos deposited in the gravelcould be chronically exposed to hydrocarboncontamination in the water column or leach-ing from oil deposits on adjacent beaches.When juvenile pink salmon migrate to salt-water they spend several weeks foraging forfood in nearshore habitats. Thus, juvenilesalmon entering seawater from both wild andhatchery sources could have been exposed tooil as they swam through oiled waters and fedalong oiled beaches. Trustee Council-spon-sored studies have documented two primarytypes of injury due to the exposure of theseearly life stages: First, growth rates in both wildand hatchery-reared juvenile pink salmon from

oiled parts of the sound were reduced. Sec-ond, there was increased egg mortality in oiledversus unoiled streams.

In the years preceding the spill, returns ofwild pink salmon in Prince William Sound var-ied from a maximum of 23.5 million fish in 1984to a minimum of 2.1 million in 1988. Since thespill, returns of wild pinks have varied from ahigh of about 12.7 million fish in 1990 to a lowof about 1.9 million in 1992. The decade pre-ceding the oil spill was a time of very high pro-ductivity for pink salmon in the sound, and,given the tremendous natural variation in adultreturns, it is impractical to measure directly theextent to which wild salmon returns since 1989were influenced by the oil spill. Based on in-tensive studies, including mathematical mod-els, carried out following the spill, wild adultpink salmon returns to the sound’s SouthwestDistrict in 1991 and 1992 were most likely re-duced by a total of 11 percent.

Reduced juvenile growth rates in PrinceWilliam Sound occurred only in the 1989 sea-son, but higher egg mortality persisted in oiledcompared to unoiled streams through 1993.No statistically significant differences in eggmortalities in oiled and unoiled streams weredetected in 1994 through 1996, but in 1997there was again a difference. It is not clearwhether the 1997 difference was due to theeffects of lingering weathered oil, perhapsnewly exposed by storm-related disturbanceof adjacent beaches, or due to other factors.Patches of weathered oil still persist in or nearintertidal spawning habitats in a few of thestreams used by pink salmon in southwesternPrince William Sound. It is possible thatpatches of oil may be exposed as winter stormsshift stream beds back and forth and result inlocal episodes of increased pink salmon eggmortality. The duration, scale, and number ofany such events now would be limited in com-


RRRRRIVERIVERIVERIVERIVER O O O O OTTERSTTERSTTERSTTERSTTERS

Injury and RecoveryRiver otters have a low population den-

sity in Prince William Sound. Twelve riverotter carcasses were found following the spill,but the actual total mortality is not known.Studies conducted during 1989-91 identifiedseveral differences between river otters inoiled and unoiled areas in Prince WilliamSound, including biochemical alterations,reduced diversity in prey species, reducedbody size (length-weight), and increasedhome-range size. Because there were fewprespill data, it is not certain that these differ-ences are the result of the oil spill. Althoughsome of the differences (e.g., in blood val-ues) persisted through 1996, there were fewdifferences documented in 1997 and 1998.Thus, there are no indications of possible

lingering injury from the oil spill, and theTrustee Council’s recovery objective hasbeen met.

The Trustee Council’s habitat protectionprogram and research and monitoringprojects have benefited spill-area river ot-ters. More than 1,200 miles of marine shore-line and more than 280 streams used byanadromous fish streams have been pro-tected; much of this area provides high-valuehabitat for river otters.

Through the Nearshore VertebratePredator project and other studies, much in-formation has been gathered that will im-prove long-term conservation and manage-ment of river otters. These breakthroughsinclude development of a new method forlive-trapping otters, which will improve the

ability of wildlife managers to estimatepopulation sizes for this elusive species, andnew insights in the recycling of aquatic nu-trients into forest ecosystems at otter latrinesites, which has important implications froma conservation standpoint. In addition, workin progress at the Alaska SeaLife Center onthe blood chemistry of river otters in rela-tion to small doses of oil will aid interpreta-tion of biochemical tests for exposure fromoil and other contaminants.Recovery Objective

The river otter will have recovered whenbiochemical indices of hydrocarbon exposureor other stresses and indices of habitat useare similar between oiled and unoiled areasof Prince William Sound, after taking intoaccount any geographic differences.

parison to the situation that existed in the south-western sound in 1989-1993. Therefore, thebiological impact of exposure to any such lin-gering oil is unlikely to limit pink salmonpopulations, assuming there are no drasticnegative changes in the quality of freshwaterhabitats and ocean rearing conditions.

Since the Trustee Council’s recoveryobjective specifically requires a sequence oftwo years each of odd- and even-year runswithout differences in egg mortality, this re-covery objective clearly has not been met.Thus, the Trustee Council continues to findthat pink salmon are recovering from theeffects of the oil spill, but that full recoveryhas not been achieved.

The Trustee Council has made a majorinvestment in studying the effects of the oilspill on pink salmon and in improving conser-vation and management of wild stocks inPrince William Sound. Studies on the effectsof oil on pink salmon have led to new insightsabout how oil can affect salmon, especially inregard to the toxicity of even very small con-centrations of weathered oil on early life stages.This information will be useful in evaluatingwater quality standards for oil in water and incontingency planning for future oil spills.

The Trustee Council has sponsored sev-eral projects directed at improved management

of pink salmon. One of the most beneficialprojects sponsored by the Trustee Council wasdevelopment and implementation of a thermalmass marking project in Prince William Sound.This project, which is now being sustained bythe Alaska Department of Fish and Game andthe Prince William Sound Aquaculture Asso-ciation, puts a unique mark on the otoliths (earbone) of hatchery-reared fry released in thesound. Technicians can readily identify thesefish when they are caught as returning adults.This information is used for in-season adjust-ments of harvests (times and areas) to betterprotect wild stocks and to more fully utilizehatchery stocks when doing so does not jeop-ardize wild stocks of pink salmon. Anotherproject sponsored by the Trustee Council char-acterized the genetic stock structure of pinksalmon in the sound. The results of this projectwill improve confidence that management ac-tions are adequately protecting the genetic di-versity of small wild stocks.

Throughout Alaska there is increasingrecognition of the importance of changes inmarine ecosystems on the growth and survivalof salmon. The Trustee Council has fundedthe Sound Ecosystem Assessment (SEA)project to explore oceanographic and ecologi-cal factors that influence production of pinksalmon and Pacific herring in Prince William

Sound. These factors include such things asthe timing of spring plankton blooms andchanges in circulation patterns that link thesound to the Gulf of Alaska. These naturalfactors are likely to have the greatest influenceon year-to-year returns in both wild and hatch-ery stocks of pink salmon. A final report fromthe SEA Project is due at the end of FY 1999.

Pink salmon have been major beneficia-ries of the Trustee Council’s habitat protec-tion program. The more than 600,000 acresof land protected through the Trustee Councilprogram include 280 streams with spawningand rearing habitat for salmon. Wild popula-tions of pink salmon have been enhanced bycreating or providing access to additionalspawning habitat, such as the Port Dick spawn-ing channel on the outer Kenai coast. Thisproject is expected to result in production ofadditional pink salmon available for commer-cial harvest each year.

Recovery ObjectivePink salmon will have recovered when

population indicators, such as growth and sur-vival, are within normal bounds and there areno statistically significant differences in eggmortalities in oiled and unoiled streams for twoyears each of odd- and even-year runs in PrinceWilliam Sound.


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RRRRROCKFISHOCKFISHOCKFISHOCKFISHOCKFISH

Injury and RecoveryVery little is known about rockfish

populations (of several species) in the north-ern Gulf of Alaska. A small number of deadadult rockfish was recovered following theoil spill, and autopsies of five specimensindicated that oil ingestion was the cause ofdeath. Analysis of other rockfish showedexposure to hydrocarbons and probable sub-lethal effects. In addition, closures to salmon

SSSSSE AE AE AE AE A O O O O OTTERSTTERSTTERSTTERSTTERS

Injury and RecoveryBy the late 1800s, sea otters had been

eliminated from most of their historicalrange in Alaska due to excessive harvest-ing by Russian and American fur traders.Surveys of sea otters in the 1970s and1980s, however, indicated a healthy and ex-panding population in most of Alaska, in-cluding Prince William Sound. Today theonly harvests of sea otters are for subsis-tence purposes.

About 1,000 sea otter carcasses wererecovered following the spill, and addi-tional animals probably died but were notrecovered. In 1990 and 1991, higher-than-expected proportions of prime-age adult seaotters were found dead in western PrinceWilliam Sound, and there was evidence ofhigher mortality of recently weaned juve-niles in oiled areas. By 1992-93, overwin-tering mortality rates for juveniles had de-creased, but were still higher in oiled thanin unoiled parts of the sound.

Based on both aerial and boat surveysconducted in western Prince William Sound,there is statistically significant evidence ofa population increase following the oil spill(1993-98). Observations by local residentsbear out this general increase. However,within the most heavily oiled bays in thewestern sound, such as those on northernKnight Island, the aerial surveys indicate thatrecovery may not be complete.

The Trustee Council’s Nearshore Ver-tebrate Predator project, which was startedin 1995, is addressing the lack of recoveryin sea otters in the heavily oiled bays ofwestern Prince William Sound. The lackof recovery may reflect the extended timerequired for population growth for a long-lived mammal with a low reproductive rate,but it also could reflect the effects of con-tinuing exposure to hydrocarbons or a com-bination of both factors. Through 1997,researchers have continued to find bio-chemical evidence of oil exposure in seaotters on northern Knight Island. Bio-chemical samples from 1998 are now be-ing analyzed. An additional hypothesis isthat food supplies are limiting recovery, butpreliminary evidence does not fully sup-port this idea.

It is clear that sea otter recovery isunderway for much of the spill-area, withthe exception of populations at the most

heavily oiled bays in western Prince Wil-liam Sound. Researchers sponsored by theTrustee Council continue to explore hypoth-eses for lack of recovery at these sites.

Sea otters have benefited from manyaspects of the Trustee Council’s program.Sea otters are found along many miles ofthe more than 1,200 miles of marine shore-line that has been protected through thehabitat protection program. Results of re-search and monitoring projects have alsobeen valuable. For example, an aerial sur-vey protocol is now being used more widelyto monitor sea otter populations, and an im-proved and validated technique for agingsea otters using their teeth will aid biolo-gists and veterinarians wherever sea ottersare found. Another example is new infor-mation on age-specific reproductive rates,which is crucial for understanding the ef-fects of subsistence harvests on sea otters.These new techniques and insights will aidsea otter conservation and managementover the long term.

Recovery ObjectiveSea otters will have recovered when

the population in oiled areas returns to itsprespill abundance and distribution. An in-creasing population trend and normal re-production and age structure in westernPrince William Sound will indicate thatrecovery is underway.

Sea Otter

fisheries apparently had the effect of increas-ing fishing pressures on rockfish, which, inturn, may have adversely affected local rock-fish populations. However, the original ex-tent of injury and the current recoverystatus of this species are unknown.

Because little is known about rockfishabundance and species composition in thespill area and because rockfish are harvestedcommercially, even basic information aboutthese species could provide a basis for im-

proved management or, at least, the identifi-cation of priorities for more targeted research.Accordingly, starting in FY 1998, the TrusteeCouncil sponsored a multi-year study of ge-netic stock structure in black, dusky, andyelloweye rockfish throughout the spill areaand the adjacent Gulf of Alaska. No resultsfrom this work are currently available.

Recovery ObjectiveNo recovery objective can be identified.

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SSSSSOCKEYEOCKEYEOCKEYEOCKEYEOCKEYE S S S S SALMONALMONALMONALMONALMON

SSSSSEDIMENTSEDIMENTSEDIMENTSEDIMENTSEDIMENTS

Injury and RecoveryExxon Valdez oil penetrated deeply into

cobble and boulder beaches that are com-mon on shorelines throughout the spill area,especially in sheltered habitats. Cleaningand natural degradation removed much ofthe oil from the intertidal zone, but visuallyidentifiable surface and subsurface oil per-sists at many locations.

The last comprehensive survey ofshorelines in Prince William Sound, con-ducted in 1993, included 45 areas of shore-line known to have had the most significantoiling. The average location with surfaceoil residue, asphalt, or mousse was 160 m2

in size. Based on that survey, it was esti-mated that heavy subsurface oil had de-creased by 65 percent since 1991 and thatsurface oil had decreased by 50 percent overthe same time period.

The shorelines of the outer Kenai andAlaska Peninsula coasts get more wave ac-tion than most shorelines within Prince Will-iam Sound. These Gulf of Alaska sites tendedto be contaminated with oil in the form ofmousse, which can persist for long periods ina largely unweathered state. Five of six indexbeaches on the gulf coast have a heavy boul-der “armor,” and were last visited in 1993 and1994. At this time, surface and subsurface oilmousse persisted in a remarkably unweath-ered state in the armored beaches.

In 1995, a shoreline survey team vis-

ited 30 sites in the Kodiak Archipelago thathad measurable or reported oiling in 1990and 1991. The survey team found no oil oronly trace amounts at these sites. The oilingin the Kodiak area is not persisting as it is atsites in Prince William Sound due to thehigher energy unarmored beaches in theKodiak area, the state of the oil when it cameashore, and the smaller concentrations ofinitial oiling relative to the sound.

Following the oil spill, chemical analy-ses of oil in subtidal sediments were conductedat a small number of index sites in PrinceWilliam Sound. At these sites, oil in subtidalsediments was mostly confined to the upper-most 20 meters water depths (below mean lowtide), although elevated levels of hydrocar-bon-degrading bacteria (associated with el-evated hydrocarbons) were detected at depthsof 40 and 100 meters in 1990 in Prince Will-iam Sound. By 1993, however, there waslittle evidence of Exxon Valdez oil and relatedelevated microbial activity at most index sitesin Prince William Sound, except at those as-sociated with sheltered beaches that wereheavily oiled in 1989. These index sites—atHerring, Northwest, and Sleepy bays—areamong the few sites at which substantialsubtidal oiling is still known to occur.

Based on the information above, sedi-ments are considered to be recovering.However, the presence of surface and sub-surface oil continues to compromise wilder-

ness and recreational values, expose and po-tentially harm living organisms, and offendvisitors and residents, especially those whoengage in subsistence activities along still-oiled shorelines. Concern on the part ofChenega Bay residents has been particularlystrong. In 1997, with support from theTrustee Council, a project was carried outto use a chemical surfactant and other meansto remove additional crude oil from 10,000m2 of beach on LaTouche and Evans islandsin southwestern Prince William Sound. Thiseffort was a partly successful, but a finalevaluation of the results is not yet available.

Recovery ObjectiveSediments will have recovered when

there are no longer residues of Exxon Valdezoil on shorelines (both tidal and subtidal) inthe oil-spill area. Declining oil residues anddiminishing toxicity are indications that re-covery is underway.

Oily sediment in 1997

Injury and RecoveryCommercial salmon fishing was closed

in Prince William Sound and in portions ofCook Inlet and near Kodiak in 1989 to avoidany possibility of contaminated salmon be-ing sent to market. As a result, there werehigher-than-desirable numbers (i.e.,“overescapement”) of spawning sockeyesalmon entering the Kenai River and alsoRed and Akalura lakes on Kodiak Island.Research carried out following the spilldemonstrated that initially these high es-capements produced an overabundance of

juvenile sockeye that then overgrazed thezoo-plankton, thus altering planktonic foodwebs in the nursery lakes. The result waslost sockeye production as shown by reducedgrowth rates during the freshwater part ofthe sockeye life history and declines in thereturns of adults per spawning sockeye. Al-though sockeye freshwater growth tended toreturn to normal within two or three yearsfollowing the overescapement, there are in-dications that these systems are less stablefor several years after an initialoverescapement event.

The negative effects of the 1989overescapement on sockeye productivity, asmeasured by return per spawner, in the KenaiRiver watershed were readily apparent for re-turns from the brood years 1989-1992. Re-turns from the 1993-1995 brood years are notcomplete because some of these fish are stillat sea, but returns to date show promise thatmanagement efforts have been successful inrestoring the returns per spawner to normallevels. The sockeye salmon of the KenaiRiver watershed are recovering from theeffects of the 1989 overescapement.


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SSSSSUBTIDALUBTIDALUBTIDALUBTIDALUBTIDAL C C C C COMMUNITIESOMMUNITIESOMMUNITIESOMMUNITIESOMMUNITIES

Injury and RecoveryShallow subtidal habitats of Prince Will-

iam Sound, from the lower intertidal zone todepths of about 20 meters, typically havedense stands of kelp or eelgrass and containnumerous polychaete worms, snails, clams,sea urchins, and other invertebrate life. Thesesubtidal communities provide shelter and foodfor an array of nearshore fishes, birds, andmarine mammals.

Oil that was transported down to subtidalhabitats, as well as subsequent cleanup activi-ties, apparently caused changes in the abun-dance and species composition of plant andanimal populations below lower tides. Dif-ferent habitats, emphasizing eelgrass beds andadjacent areas of soft sediment, were com-pared at oiled and unoiled sites from 1990-1995. It is difficult to draw firm conclusionsfrom this study, because it is hard to distin-guish between natural site differences (e.g.,percent sand and mud) and those differencesactually resulting from the oil spill or cleanup.

Concentrations of hydrocarbons insubtidal sediments were significantly higherat oiled sites than at unoiled reference sites.These concentrations dropped sharply by1991, but evidence of oil contamination dueto Exxon Valdez oil persisted at some loca-tions through 1995.

Biologically, negative effects of the oilwere most evident for oil-sensitive speciesof amphipods, which were consistently lessabundant at oiled than at unoiled sites. Re-duced numbers of eelgrass shoots and flow-ers may have been due to increased turbidityassociated with cleanup activities (e.g., boattraffic). Two species of sea stars and helmetcrabs also were less abundant at oiled sites.Some invertebrates living in the sediment,including species in eight families of poly-chaete worms, two families of snails, and onefamily of mussels, were greater in numbersat oiled sites. These species are known to bestress-tolerant and probably benefited fromthe organic enrichment associated with oil.

Some of the species that showed increasednumbers also may have benefited from re-duced competition or predation due to theeffects of the spill.

By 1995, there was apparent recoveryof most constituents of the eelgrass com-munity and on this basis, subtidal commu-nities can be considered to be recovering.Some amphipod and clam species continuedto be less abundant at oiled sites, and therecontinued to be indications of enhanced num-bers of stress-tolerant polychaetes and mus-sels. These sites have not been revisited since1995.

Recovery ObjectiveSubtidal communities will have recovered

when community composition in oiled areas,especially in association with eelgrass beds, issimilar to that in unoiled areas. Indications ofrecovery are the return of oil-sensitive species,such as amphipods, and the reduction of op-portunistic species at oiled sites.

Production of zooplankton in both Redand Akalura lakes on Kodiak Island has re-bounded from the effects of theoverescapement at the time of the oil spill.By 1997, Red Lake had responded favor-ably in terms of smolt and adult productionand was at or near prespill production ofadult sockeye. At Akalura Lake there werelow juvenile growth rates in freshwater dur-ing the period 1989-92, and these years oflow growth correspond to low adult escape-ments during the period 1994-97. Startingin 1993, however, the production of smoltsper adult increased sharply and the smoltsizes and age composition suggested thatrearing conditions have improved. Thisimprovement is reflected in a strong adultescapement in 1998; a significant escape-ment of adults into Akalura Lake is alsoprojected in 1999. The sockeye popula-tions of both Red and Akalura lakes arerecovering from the effects of the 1989overescapement.

There also was concern about

overescapement effects in lakes on AfognakIsland and on the Alaska Peninsula. However,analysis of sockeye freshwater growth ratesof juveniles from Chignik Lake on the AlaskaPeninsula did not identify any impacts associ-ated with a 1989 overescape-ment event.

The Trustee Council has made a majorinvestment in the restoration and manage-ment of sockeye salmon, especially in theKenai River system. Research sponsoredby the Trustee Council has documented notonly the effects of overescapement events(as described above), but also the mecha-nism by which the effects are manifested inglacial-lake systems. This work is helpingfisheries managers better monitor and pre-dict annual changes in sockeye fisheries.With support from the Trustee Council, ge-netic stock identification and hydroacousticstock assessment techniques were developedand are being employed to improve in-sea-son management of the Cook Inlet sockeyefisheries.

Sockeye salmon have benefited greatly

from the Trustee Council’s habitat protec-tion program throughout the spill area.These acquisitions include streambank,lakeside, and watershed habitats along theKenai and Moose rivers on the Kenai Pen-insula, the Eshamy-Jackpot Bay area ofPrince William Sound, the Red and Fraserlakes area on Kodiak Island, and Laura andPauls lakes on Afognak Island. In additionto habitat acquisition, the Trustee Councilsponsored a project to stabilize and restoredegraded streambanks on public lands alongthe Kenai and Russian rivers. This projectwill restore spawning and rearing habitatimportant for salmon and enhance recre-ational fishing, which was a service injuredby the oil spill.

Recovery ObjectiveSockeye salmon in the Kenai River sys-

tem and Red and Akalura lakes will haverecovered when adult returns-per-spawnerare within normal bounds.


Injury and RecoveryCommercial fishing is a service that was

reduced through injury to commercial fishspecies (see individual resource accounts) andalso through fishing closures. In 1989, clo-sures affected fisheries in Prince WilliamSound, Cook Inlet, the outer Kenai coast,Kodiak, and Chignik. These closures harmedthe livelihoods of persons who fish for a liv-ing.

Recovery is underway but not completefor three of the injured resources that are com-mercially fished — pink salmon, sockeyesalmon, and Pacific herring; the recovery sta-tus of rockfish is unknown. No spill-relateddistrict-wide fishery closures related to oilcontamination have been in effect since 1989.However, the Prince William Sound herringfishery was closed 1993-96 due to a diseaseoutbreak that may be related to the oil spill,and was open only to limited commercialharvest in 1997 and 1998. For these rea-sons, commercial fishing, as a lost or re-duced service, is in the process of recover-ing from the effects of the oil spill, but fullrecovery has not been achieved.

The period before the oil spill was a time

of relative prosperity for manycommercial fishermen. The years1987-88 saw some of the highestever per pound prices for salmonand increased capitalization of thefishery. Thus, fishermen’s expec-tations for income in 1989 werevery high, making the fishery clo-sures and other spill effects evenmore disruptive.

For a variety of reasons, as dis-cussed below, income disruptionscontinue today, as evidenced bychanges in average earnings, ex-vessel prices, and limited entry per-mit values. For example, for theperiod 1981-97, fishermen’s aver-age earnings in the Prince WilliamSound salmon seine fishery peakedin 1987-88, dropped in 1989 to1984-85 levels, rebounded in 1990,hit a new low in 1992-93 (runs in1992-93 were the lowest in 15years), and since have hoveredsomewhat below the 1989 level.Average harvests have variedwidely during this period, with the

CCCCCOMMERCIALOMMERCIALOMMERCIALOMMERCIALOMMERCIAL F F F F FISHINGISHINGISHINGISHINGISHING

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Recovery is underway but not complete for three of theinjured resources that are commercially fished — pinksalmon, sockeye salmon, and Pacific herring.

HUMAN SERVICESCOMMERICAL FISHING

PASSIVE USE

RECREATION AND TOURISM

SUBSISTENCE


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Injury and RecoveryPassive use encompasses nonuse val-

ues, such as the appreciation of the aestheticand intrinsic values of undisturbed areas andthe value derived from simply knowing thata resource exists. Injuries to passive use aretied to public perceptions of injured re-sources. Because recovery of a number

of injured resources is incomplete and insome cases has not begun, the TrusteeCouncil considers passive use, as a lost orreduced service, to be recovering from thespill but not fully recovered.

Immediately following the oil spill, theState of Alaska, using a contingent valua-tion approach, measured substantial losses

PPPPPASSIVEASSIVEASSIVEASSIVEASSIVE U U U U US ES ES ES ES E

three highest years being 1994, 1996, and1997. Ex-vessel prices were highest in theperiod 1987-89, and have been below pricesof the early 1980’s ever since. Limited entrypermit values in this fishery reached a peakin 1989-91, nearly double the value in anyearlier year in this period, and have declinedsince to roughly 15 percent of their peakvalue. The number of permits fished,roughly 250 each year 1981-91, had declinedto 114 in 1997.

Natural variability in fish returns and anumber of economic changes in the com-mercial fishing industry since 1989 probablymean that many of these changes in incomeare not directly attributable to the spill.However, these factors also make discern-ing spill-related impacts difficult. Economicchanges confronting the industry include theincreased world supply of salmon (due pri-marily to farmed salmonids) and corre-sponding reduced prices, entry restrictionsin certain fisheries (such as Individual Fish-ing Quotas, IFQs, for halibut and sablefish),allocation changes (e.g., a reduction in theallocation of Cook Inlet sockeye salmon tocommercial fishermen), and changes in pro-cessing capacity (closure of major proces-sors in Cordova and Kenai and introductionof some smaller and more specialized pro-cessors).

Although a number of studies aimed atallocating financial impacts to the oil spillversus other factors have been carried out,the federal jury’s compensatory award (asopposed to the $5 billion in punitive dam-ages) in the private lawsuit against Exxon isthe current legal determination of the liabil-ity and damages regarding commercial fish-ermen (including permit holders, fishing

crew, spotter pilots, and vessel owners). Thejury award, which is currently under appealby Exxon, is less than the damage claimedby commercial fishermen and more than thatacknowledged by Exxon. In brief, the jurydetermined that any financial effects on fish-ermen after 1989, with the exception of thesalmon seine fishery in Prince WilliamSound in 1992-93 and the herring fishery inPrince William Sound in 1993, are not at-tributable to the spill. The jury considereddamage claims for the period 1989-95, in-cluding claims related to size of harvest, fishprices, limited entry permit values, and ves-sel values.

Trustee Council scientists have docu-mented some continuing biological injuryto pink salmon, sockeye salmon, and her-ring (see individual resource accounts). Itis not clear to what extent these continuinginjuries might be affecting commercial fish-ing.

The Trustee Council has invested andcontinues to invest in projects to understandand restore commercially important fish spe-cies that were injured by the oil spill. Theseprojects include enhancement work, such asfertilizing Coghill Lake to produce sockeyesalmon and building structures in streamsto increase habitat for coho salmon in PrinceWilliam Sound, increasing salmon produc-tion by reconstructing the fish ladder to passpink and coho salmon at Little WaterfallCreek in the Kodiak area, and excavatingPort Dick Creek on the Kenai Peninsula toreclaim spawning habitat for pink and chumsalmon. Projects have also been funded todevelop tools that have immediate benefitfor fisheries management. Catch accountingtools as otolith mass marking of pink salmon

and improved herring biomass estimates aidmanagement in Prince William Sound, as doin-season genetic stock identification andmarine sonar surveys for sockeye salmon inCook Inlet. In addition, the Council contin-ues to fund research projects, such as theSound Ecosystem Assessment and geneticmapping which will enhance the ability topredict and manage fisheries over the long-term, and studies to determine how diseaseis affecting recovery of the herring popula-tion in Prince William Sound and what fac-tors might trigger an outbreak.

In addition, the Trustee Council’s habi-tat program has protected roughly 640,000acres important for restoration, includingover 300 streams valuable for salmonspawning and rearing and 1,400 miles ofcoastline. Researchers in the Pacific North-west have concluded that depleted salmonpopulations cannot rebuild if any habitat thatis critical during any of their life stages isseriously compromised. Sockeye salmon,too, have benefitted from the Council’s habi-tat program, which has protectedstreambank, lakeside, and watershed habi-tats on the Kenai Peninsula, in Prince Will-iam Sound, and on Kodiak and Afognak is-lands. The Council has also provided fundsto stabilize and restore degradedstreambanks along the Kenai and Russianrivers.

Recovery ObjectiveCommercial fishing will have recovered

when the commercially important fish spe-cies have recovered and opportunities tocatch these species are not lost or reducedbecause of the effects of the oil spill.

of passive use values resulting from the spill.This approach involved surveying a sampleof U.S. households to elicit how muchpeople would be willing to pay in additionaltaxes to fund a program designed to preventfuture spills. Prior to answering the surveyquestions, respondents were provided infor-mation about the spill’s impact, including


The key to recovery of passive use is knowing that restoration of injured resources has occurred.Therefore, recovery of passive use is underway, but not complete.

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the number of miles of shoreline oiled, anestimate of the number of birds, sea otters,and harbor seals killed, and the conclusionthat few fish were harmed, as well as pro-jections of when recovery would occur (typi-cally three to five years).

In updating the status of passive usesten years after the spill, the Trustee Councilhas chosen not to repeat the contingent valu-ation study, which was very expensive andtime consuming. However, the key to re-covery of passive use is knowing that resto-ration of injured resources has occurred.Toward this end, in the years since the settle-ment between Exxon Corporation and thestate and federal governments, the Councilhas undertaken a comprehensive program torestore injured resources and has made adeliberate and consistent effort to inform thepublic about the status of restoration.

The two key components of the TrusteeCouncil’s restoration effort are the research,monitoring, and general restoration programand the habitat protection and acquisitionprogram. The research, monitoring, and res-toration program, which is funded each yearthrough the annual work plan, focusesmostly on knowledge and stewardship as thebest tools for long-term health of the ma-rine ecosystem. It also includes develop-ment of tools to benefit fisheries manage-ment and some direct enhancement activi-ties, such as improving access to spawninghabitat. Projects to monitor the status ofinjured resources, including resources suchas killer whales for which no active restora-tion may be possible, are also fundedthrough the annual work plan. The habitatprotection program preserves habitat impor-tant to injured resources through the acqui-sition of land or interests in land. As ofDecember 1998, the Council has protectedover 640,000 acres of habitat, includingmore than 1,400 miles of coastline and over300 streams valuable for salmon spawningand rearing. A summary of the Council’spublic information efforts follows.

The Trustee Council maintains a mail-ing list of roughly 3,000 people and organi-zations, both inside and outside of Alaska,to whom it sends the Restoration Update,

its bimonthly newsletter; annual work plans,which describe the work underway in a par-ticular year to restore the injured resourcesand services; the Annual Status Report,which reports to the public on the progressof restoration; updates to the RestorationPlan (1996, 1999); and notice of theCouncil’s annual restoration workshop. Theworkshop, which provides another venue forreporting on the progress of restoration, isattended by all EVOS researchers and opento the news media and public.

In addition, from 1996 through early1999 the Council aired a weekly radio se-ries, “Alaska Coastal Currents”, throughoutthe state. This two-minute program, pro-duced by the Alaska Public Radio Network,was designed to communicate news of ma-rine science and other restoration activities.A weekly newspaper column, based on theradio series, has been in print since June1997.

Also in 1997, the Trustee Council estab-lished a web site (www.oilspill.state.ak.us),which offers detailed information about res-toration efforts. A number of individualprojects funded by the Council have their ownweb sites. The Council began publication ofits Restoration Notebook series in 1997 aswell. This series, which tells the story of in-

jury and recovery from the spill of select in-jured species, is written by EVOS research-ers. It is distributed free upon request, and issuitable for highschool age and older.

Another important means of informingthe public are the written reports the TrusteeCouncil requires for all restoration projects.These reports, which are peer reviewed byindependent scientific peer reviewers, areavailable to the public through the Council’sOil Spill Public Information Center (nowpart of the Alaska Resource Library and In-formation Services, ARLIS) in Anchorageas well as at several other libraries in thestate, at the Library of Congress, and throughNTIC (National Technical Information Ser-vices). ARLIS also houses books, video-tapes, maps, and other materials related tothe oil spill, a listing of which is availableonline at //library.ci.anchorage.ak.us/arlis.html. In addition, the Council supportsresearchers in publishing their project resultsin the peer-reviewed scientific literature,which expands their audience well beyondAlaska. More than 270 such papers havebeen published as of February 1999.

The 17-member Public Advisory Group(PAG), which was established in the civilsettlement between Exxon Corporation andthe state and federal governments, is an im-


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Injury and RecoveryThe oil spill disrupted use of the spill

area for recreation and tourism. In the yearssince the spill, there has been a marked in-crease in the number of visitors to Alaska —from approximately 600,000 in the summerof 1989 to over 1.1 million in the summer of1997 — and a similar increase in visitationto the spill area. For example, in 1997 thenumber of visitors to the Kenai Fjords Na-tional Park Visitor Center was nearly doublewhat it was in 1989. In 1998, the number ofvisitors to the USFS Crooked Creek VisitorInformation Center in Valdez was almost50% greater than in 1989. From 1989 to1997, the number of sportfishers increasedby 65% in Prince William Sound, by 25% inthe Kodiak Region, and by 15% in the KenaiPeninsula region.

However, the Trustee Council’s recov-ery objective requires that the injured re-sources important to recreation be recoveredand recreational use of oiled beaches not beimpaired, and this objective has not been met.Therefore, the Council finds recreation tobe recovering from the effects of the spill,but not fully recovered.

Several resources important for wildlifeviewing still are not recovered from the spillor their recovery is unknown, including killerwhale, harbor seal, common loon, cormorant

(three species), Kittlitz’s murrelet, and pigeonguillemot. Others resources, including seaotter, common murre, black oystercatcher,and marbled murrelet are recovering. Thebald eagle, another resource important forwildlife viewing, has recovered from the ef-fects of the spill. (See individual resourceaccounts for more information on recoverystatus.)

Telephone interviews were conducted inearly 1999 with key informants who recre-ated extensively in the oil spill area before

the spill and currently. Nearly all of the keyinformants with experience in Prince Will-iam Sound continued to report diminishedwildlife sightings in the sound, particularlyin heavily oiled areas such as around KnightIsland. They reported seeing significantlyfewer seabirds, killer whales, sea lions, seals,and sea otters since the spill, but also reportedobserving increases in the number of seabirdsin the last couple of years. Key informantswith experience along the outer Kenai coastalso reported diminished sightings of sea-

Recreation includes sport fishing, sport hunting, camping, boating,hiking and other active outdoor pursuits.

Wildlife tours in Kenai FjordsNational Park

RRRRRECREATIONECREATIONECREATIONECREATIONECREATION A N DA N DA N DA N DA N D T T T T TOURISMOURISMOURISMOURISMOURISM

Phot

o by

Rob

ert Ang

ell

Phot

o by

Roy

Cor

ral

portant means of keeping stakeholders andothers informed of the progress of restora-tion. In addition to holding quarterly meet-ings with the Trustee Council staff, each yearthe PAG holds an open house in one or morecommunities in the spill area. Additionalpublic meetings are held throughout the spillarea each year by the Council and its staff.All meetings of the Council are widely ad-vertised and opportunity for public comment,often via the teleconference network, is al-ways provided. Press releases are issued fol-lowing major actions of the Council.

In 1998-99, in preparation for the tenthanniversary of the spill, the Trustee Councilhas stepped up its efforts to inform the pub-lic about the status of restoration. A visual

exhibit on restoration activities was pro-duced for travel to spill area communities.Another exhibit is on display at the AlaskaSeaLife Center in Seward. The Council’s1999 restoration workshop has been ex-panded to a major scientific symposium onwhat has been learned and accomplished inthe restoration process. A 30-minute videohas been produced for airing on public tele-vision in Alaska and for distribution to ev-ery school in the state.

In addition, a concerted effort byTrustee Council staff to interest national andinternational media in the 10th anniversaryof the spill has resulted in numerous con-tacts. Major stories are expected in NationalGeographic Magazine, Alaska Geographic,

Outside Magazine, Sports Afield and sev-eral other magazines in spring 1999. Sev-eral newspapers, including the BostonGlobe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and theSeattle Times, also have major stories in theworks. A source reel prepared by the Coun-cil and containing three hours of footagerelated to restoration activities has been dis-tributed, upon request, to a number of me-dia outlets (ABC, CBS, CNN, and others)and documentary filmmakers.

Recovery ObjectivePassive uses will have recovered when

people perceive that aesthetic and intrinsicvalues associated with the spill area are nolonger diminished by the oil spill.


Injury and RecoveryFifteen predominantly Alaskan Native

communities (with a total population ofabout 2,200 people) in the oil-spill area relyheavily on harvests of subsistence resources,such as fish, shellfish, seals, deer, and wa-terfowl. Many families in other communi-ties also rely on the subsistence resourcesof the spill area.

Household interviews conducted withsubsistence users in communities through-out the spill area in 1989 indicated that sub-

sistence harvests of fish and wildlife in mostof the communities declined substantiallyfollowing the spill. Key factors in the re-duced harvests included reduced availabil-ity of fish and wildlife, concern about pos-sible health effects of eating oiled fish andwildlife, and disruption of the traditionallifestyle due to cleanup and related activi-ties. Household interviews were repeatedeach year 1990-1993 and again in 1998. By1993, the estimated size of the subsistenceharvest and participation in subsistence ac-

SSSSSUBSISTENCEUBSISTENCEUBSISTENCEUBSISTENCEUBSISTENCE

birds, seals, and sea lions. Changes in theamount of wildlife observed could be due tothe oil spill or to other factors.

Sportfishing resources which are stillinjured by the spill or for which the recoverystatus is unknown are cutthroat trout, DollyVarden, and rockfish. In 1991-93, in responseto evidence of injury to cutthroat trout, sportharvests were temporarily restricted in PrinceWilliam Sound. A closure during the April15-June 15 spawning season in the sound hasbeen in effect since 1994; this closure reflectsconcern about the long-term conservation sta-tus of cutthroat trout, rather than specific spill-related concerns. The salmon species thatwere injured (pink and sockeye salmon) arerecovering from the effects of the spill.

Harlequin ducks, which are hunted in thespill area, are still not recovered. The AlaskaBoard of Game restricted sport harvest ofharlequin ducks in western Prince WilliamSound and Kenai Fjords in 1991. Those re-strictions remain in place, but are currentlyunder review and may be modified.

Trustee Council-sponsored surveys ofoiled shorelines indicate that residual oil isstill present on some beaches. The most re-cent survey in Prince William Sound (1993)found surface oil in 217 scattered locationsalong a total of 4.8 kilometers of shorelineand subsurface oil in 109 locations along atotal of 7 kilometers of shoreline; sheeningwas apparent at many sites. The most recentsurvey of the Kenai outer coast and the coastof Katmai National Park (1994) found oilmousse persisting in a remarkably unweath-

ered state on five moderately-to-heavily-oiledboulder-armored beaches. A survey of 30oiled sites in the Kodiak Archipelago in 1995found no oil or only trace amounts. TheKatmai/Kenai Fjords shoreline survey will berepeated in the summer of 1999; the PrinceWilliam Sound survey likely will be repeatedin 2001 or 2002.

Key informants telephoned in early 1999indicated that some beaches in Prince Will-iam Sound, particularly in the western por-tion of the sound, continue to be avoided bysome recreational users, particularly kayakersand campers, because of the presence of re-sidual oil. Informants indicated that the pos-sible presence of residual oil currently hasno effect on recreational activities along theouter Kenai coast, the KodiakArchipelago,and the Lake Clark and Katmainational park coastlines.

In 1997, the Trustee Council providedfunding for the residents of Chenega Bay,working with the Department of Environmen-tal Conservation, to use PES-51, a citrus-based chemical agent, to clean some of themost heavily-oiled sites near their village.One year later, preliminary analysis showedthat the cleanup method was largely effec-tive in removing the visible surface oil attreated sites, although considerable subsur-face oil remains. NOAA’s Auke Bay Labfound no biological injury due to the cleanup.

Recreational users have benefittedgreatly from the Trustee Council’s large par-cel habitat acquisition program, which isopening more than 1,300 miles of shoreline

and over 300 salmon streams to public use.Several smaller acquisitions have specific rec-reational significance, such as the OverlookPark tract near Homer and the Lowell Pointparcel in Seward. In addition, in an effort topreserve the world-class fisheries on theKenai River, the Council is in the process ofprotecting roughly 1,800 acres along the riverand its watershed and has contributed nearly$2 million to riverbank restoration projects.

Recreation was also affected by changesin human use in response to the spill. Forexample, displacement of use from oiled ar-eas to unoiled areas, particularly in the yearsimmediately following the spill, increasedmanagement problems and facility use inunoiled areas. The State of Alaska dedicatedover $10 million of its criminal settlementwith Exxon to restoring recreational facili-ties and use in state parks in the spill area.Improvements include trails, cabins, boatlaunches, interpretive displays, and camp-sites. In addition, the Trustee Council hasfunded U.S. Forest Service development of ahuman use model for western Prince Will-iam Sound, which is intended to aid planningfor and mitigation of human uses so that in-jured species continue to be protected. Themodel may also assist in planning for futurerecreation needs in the sound.Recovery Objective

Recreation and tourism will have recov-ered, in large part, when the fish and wildliferesources on which they depend have recov-ered and recreation use of oiled beaches isno longer impaired.

tivities appeared to have returned to prespilllevels in some communities, with the har-vest rebounding first in the communities ofthe Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island, and thelower Kenai Peninsula and lagging behinda year or more in the Prince William Soundcommunities.

In 1998, interviews indicated thatsubsistence continues to recover from theeffects of the oil spill, but has not fullyrecovered. The percentage of those inter-viewed who reported that subsistence uses


2 6

are lower than before thespill has declined. Con-cerns about food safetyand effects on the tradi-tional lifestyle have less-ened. Concerns about re-source availability andgreater harvest effort re-main, but harvest levels inall communities inter-viewed are at or ap-proaching prespill levels.Subsistence harvests in1998 varied among com-munities from 250-500pounds per person usableweight, indicating contin-ued strong dependence onsubsistence resources.

Regarding resourceavailability, subsistenceusers continued to reportscarcity of a number ofimportant subsistence re-sources, including harborseals, herring, clams, andcrab. These observationsare generally consistentwith scientific studiesfunded by the TrusteeCouncil that continue tofind that some subsistence

1998) and a corresponding increase in theper capita pounds harvested of salmon (from70 pounds pre-spill to 225 pounds in 1998).In many communities, shellfish harvestshave also declined significantly, for examplein Nanwalek from 16 pounds pre-spill to 9pounds in 1998. Increased fish harvests anddecreased marine mammal and shellfishharvests occurred in most communitieswhere interviews were conducted. The cul-tural and nutritional importance of each re-source varies, and these changes in diet com-position remain a serious concern to subsis-tence users.

The decline in shellfish consumptionnoted above reflects food safety concernsas well as reduced availability of shellfish.From 1989-94, subsistence foods weretested for evidence of hydrocarbon contami-

nation, with no or very low concentrationsof petroleum hydrocarbons found in mostsubsistence foods. However, because someshellfish can readily accumulate hydrocar-bons, subsistence users have been advisednot to eat shellfish from beaches where oilcan be seen or smelled on the surface or sub-surface. By 1998, a large majority of thoseinterviewed expressed confidence aboutmost foods except certain shellfish, such asclams, and concerns about the presence ofPSP (paralytic shellfish poisoning) in clamsoutweighed concerns about lingering hydro-carbon contamination from the oil spill.

Interviews indicate that the increasedfish consumption is attributable in part toenhancement projects funded by the TrusteeCouncil, including a chinook remote releaseproject near Chenega Bay, a coho remoterelease project near Tatitlek, stream enhance-ment efforts near Port Graham, and supportof broodstock development at the Port Gra-ham hatchery. In addition, the State ofAlaska has used a portion of its funds fromthe criminal settlement with Exxon to spon-sor a sockeye salmon enhancement projectnear Nanwalek. The Trustee Council’s clamproject, which is designed to restore clampopulations near subsistence communitiesin lower Cook Inlet and Prince WilliamSound, is still in the trial phase. Clams havebeen planted on selected beaches, but arenot yet available for harvest.

Subsistence users continue to empha-size that the value of subsistence cannot bemeasured in pounds alone. Harvest levelsdo not encompass the cultural value of tra-ditional and customary use of natural re-sources. Following the oil spill, there wasconcern that the spill disrupted opportuni-ties for young people to learn cultural sub-sistence practices and techniques, and thatthis knowledge may be lost to them in thefuture. In 1998, the number of subsistenceusers reporting a decline in the influence ofelders in teaching subsistence skills and val-ues had decreased and the number report-ing that young adults are learning enoughsubsistence skills had increased. Also, thenumber reporting less sharing of subsistenceresources, another integral aspect of subsis-

Concerns about food safety and effects on the traditionallifestyle have lessened over the years. But, concerns about resourceavailability remain. Photo by Roy Corral

species (e.g., harbor seals, herring, clams)are not recovered from the effects of the spill.The Council continues to support researchprojects that seek to understand why theseresources are not recovering and what, ifanything, can be done to speed their recov-ery (see individual resource accounts).

According to those interviewed, the1998 increase in pounds harvested at a timeof continued reduced resource availabilityreflects greater harvest effort (traveling far-ther, spending more time and money) thanwould have been required before the spill toachieve a similar harvest. It also reflectsincreased reliance on fish in the subsistencediet. For example, 1998 interviews inChenega Bay indicated reductions in the percapita pounds harvested of marine mammals(from 140 pounds pre-spill to 15 pounds in


Opposite Page: Canoe Passage is one ofmore than 300 salmon streams protected

through the Trustee Council’s HabitatProtection Program. Habitat protection

strongly benefits each of the human services,first by protecting the resources, but also byproviding more public access for recreation,

ensuring subsistence, and protectingspawning areas of wild salmon.

Photo by Kevin Hartwell

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Councilconducts all programs and activities free fromdiscrimination, consistent with the Americans withDisabilities Act. This publication is available inalternative communication formats upon request.Please contact the Restoration Office at 907/278-8012 to make any necessary arrangements. Anyperson who believes she or he has beendiscriminated against should write to: EVOSTrustee Council, 645 G St., Suite 401, Anchorage,AK 99501; or O.E.O., U.S. Department of theInterior, Washington, D.C. 20240.

This publication was released by the Exxon ValdezOil Spill Trustee Council and produced at a cost of$0.90 per copy.

tence culture, had decreased. However,many of those interviewed continue to ex-press concern about these elements of thetraditional lifestyle, with more than 50 per-cent responding that the traditional way oflife has not recovered since the spill.

To promote restoration of subsistenceservices, the Trustee Council has sponsoredtwo Elders/Youth Conferences and produc-tion of two documentaries designed to trans-mit local knowledge of subsistence to thescientific community, resource managers,and decision makers. In addition, in 1993the Council provided funds for constructionof the Alutiiq Archaeological Repository inKodiak and in 1999 is providing funds foran archaeological repository and local dis-play facilities in the Prince William Sound/lower Cook Inlet region. The State of Alaskahas used a portion of its Exxon criminalsettlement funds for “spirit camps” in PrinceWilliam Sound and on Kodiak Island.

In the 1998 household interviews, anumber of subsistence users commented thatsome of the current influences on subsis-tence may not be attributable to the oil spill.Factors such as demographic changes in vil-lage populations, ecosystem-wide changessuch as ocean warming, increased competi-tion for subsistence resources by otherpeople (e.g., sport fishing charters) and

predators (e.g., sea otters), and increasedawareness of PSP and other contaminantsmay play a role in resource availability, foodsafety, and participation in traditional prac-tices.

Recovery ObjectiveSubsistence will have recovered when

injured resources used for subsistence arehealthy and productive and exist at prespilllevels. In addition, there is recognition thatpeople must be confident that the resourcesare safe to eat and that the cultural valuesprovided by gathering, preparing, and shar-ing food need to be reintegrated into com-munity life.


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Deborah L. WilliamsSpecial Assistant to the Secretary

U.S. Dept. of the Interior

Jim WolfeU.S. Forest Service Representative

Alaska RegionU.S. Dept. of Agriculture

Steve PennoyerDirector, Alaska Region

National MarineFisheries Service

Frank RueCommissioner

Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game

Bruce BotelhoAttorney GeneralState of Alaska

Michele BrownCommissionerAlaska Dept. of

Environmental Conservation

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

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Anchorage, AK

Restoration Office645 G Street, Room 401Anchorage, AK 99501-3451

Exxon Valdez Oil SpillRestoration PlanUpdate on Injured Resources and ServicesMarch 1999

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