PORT TOWNSEND — The federal agency that is proposing to designate about 2,500 square miles of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound as critical habitat for endangered orcas says the change only will affect federal agencies.
And the Port Townsend owner of a whale-watching business agreed.
At least for the time being.
The habitat designation could become official by the end of the year, the National Marine Fisheries Service said Friday.
It would mean that with a few exceptions, no federal activities can take place in the Strait or Sound unless officials demonstrate that the orca habitat will not be harmed.
Those few exceptions include waters directly north of Port Townsend and Hood Canal south of the floating bridge.
21st season
Peter Hanke, owner of Port Townsend-based Puget Sound Express, the whale-watching and passenger ferry service to Friday Harbor, said he does not believe the proposed designation will affect his business.
P.S. Express is in its 21st season of taking people from Point Hudson to waters around the San Juan Islands to view orcas.
“At this point, it’s not going to have any effect,” said Hanke.
“If they start requiring permits, that could have an effect. But that’s probably not for years into the future.”
The federal agency’s 44-page report issued Friday said the designation of critical habitat could lead to revised limits for commercial salmon fishermen and new standards for sewer and stormwater discharge.
The proposed area encompasses parts of Haro Strait, the waters around the San Juan Islands, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and all of Puget Sound except for Hood Canal, because there is little evidence the orcas swim there.
Eighteen military sites covering nearly 112 square miles of water — the largest of them north of Point Wilson — are exempt.
The designation abruptly stops at the international border from Blaine to Cape Flattery.
