Hoonah cargo dock still unbuilt as its marine mammal permit is renewed for a second year

The City of Hoonah has a second federal permit to disturb whales, seals and sea lions while building its cargo dock, after a permitted year passed with none of the work done. The first took effect Sept. 1, 2025, and expires Aug. 31; the new one runs Sept. 1 through Aug. 31, 2027.

The dock at the Hoonah Marine Industrial Center would let barges land, load and unload at any tide and in any season, the notice says, in a town reachable only by air and sea. Construction was to begin in September 2025. Hoonah told the National Marine Fisheries Service on May 11 that the project was delayed and none of the permitted work had been done.

The incidental harassment authorization covers pile driving and removal at the dock, and permits take of eight species and 12 stocks of marine mammals by harassment only. NOAA Fisheries states such authorizations are issued only for actions without the potential to cause mortality or serious injury. It does allow what the agency calls a small degree of auditory injury for three of the eight species: Dall's porpoises, harbor porpoises and harbor seals.

A NOAA Fisheries biological opinion dated Feb. 20, 2025, concluded the work would not jeopardize the endangered Mexico humpback whale or western Steller sea lion populations.

The notice records only the agency's action and the city's request, and no one commented during the first permit's 30-day public comment period. The only Hoonah voice in the record is Ian Johnson, the Hoonah Indian Association's environmental coordinator, who told the agency no marine mammal harvest is known at the site.