NMFS clears Coeur Alaska to disturb marine mammals at Berners Bay dock

NOAA Fisheries has authorized Coeur Alaska, Inc. to conduct pile driving at its Kensington mine dock in Berners Bay, allowing limited disturbance of several marine mammal species. Berners Bay sits approximately 45 kilometers, about 28 miles, northwest of Juneau and supports commercial, sport, and subsistence harvests and recreation by Juneau-area residents, according to U.S. Forest Service planning documents.

The agency issued an incidental harassment authorization on June 22, 2026, to Coeur Alaska, permitting in-water pile driving during removal and replacement of two mooring dolphins, D-2 and D-4, damaged in January 2022 storms. The authorization covers Level B harassment, meaning behavioral disturbance short of injury or death. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS may issue such an authorization only after finding that the take will have no more than a negligible impact on the affected species or stocks and no unmitigable adverse impact on subsistence uses. The agency made both findings here.

The dock is the marine access point for the Kensington underground gold mine, which Coeur Mining describes as a significant employer in the Juneau area. NMFS published a proposed authorization and invited public comment on April 29, 2026, making the June 22 final authorization the last step in a permitting process that ran through the spring.

Cumulative Effects Concern

The authorization is part of a broader national pattern of construction-related incidental take authorizations issued by NOAA Fisheries under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Marine Mammal Commission, an independent federal oversight body, has raised concerns about how NMFS evaluates such authorizations. In a November 2021 letter to NMFS addressing multiple Alaska harbor construction IHAs, the commission said the agency "continues to evaluate the effects of numerous construction projects on marine mammals and their habitat on a project-by-project basis, without fully accounting for the cumulative effects of repeated authorizations on the same stocks and in the same regions over time."

NOAA frames the approach differently. Incidental harassment authorizations paired with mitigation and monitoring requirements are presented by the agency as a mechanism for allowing necessary infrastructure work while keeping impacts small and short-term. NMFS concluded that the authorized take for the Kensington Dock Repair Project will have a negligible impact on affected species and includes mandatory mitigation and monitoring requirements to protect marine mammals during construction.