these fish have been detected at the San Francisco waterfront monitors, but not in the first two years of monitoring at an array in South San Francisco Bay near the Dumbarton Bridge (Tom Keegan, personal communication to A. Jahn, July 2011). It is possible, though it seems unlikely, that green sturgeon could occasionally wander into Brisbane Lagoon.
The southern Distinct Population Segment of the green sturgeon has federal threatened status, with the only known spawning habitat available in the upper Sacramento River. The green sturgeon is the most widely distributed member of the sturgeon family and the most marine-oriented of the sturgeon species. Green sturgeons use nearshore areas from Mexico to the Bering Sea and are common occupants of bays and estuaries along the western coast of the United States (Moyle et al., 1995). Adults in the San Joaquin Delta are reported to feed on benthic invertebrates including shrimp, amphipods and occasionally small fish while juveniles have been reported to feed on opossum shrimp and amphipods (Moyle et al., 1995). Adult green sturgeons migrate into freshwater beginning in late February with spawning occurring in March through July, and peak activity in April and June. After spawning, juveniles remain in fresh and estuarine waters for one to four years and then begin to migrate out to the sea (Moyle et al., 1995). Although green sturgeon are caught and observed in the lower San Joaquin River, spawning is not known to occur within that river. Green sturgeons are uncommon in the Central Bay, and therefore would uncommonly occur in the Brisbane Lagoon or shoreline areas in San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Project Site (NMFS, 2008).
[See page 5-181 for the original comment] Protocol-level surveys for California clapper rail were conducted throughout marshes in San Francisco Peninsula Region in connection with the Invasive Spartina Project from 2010-2013. No clapper rails were detected at Brisbane Lagoon or Sierra Point during those protocol-level surveys. One rail was detected in 2011 at Candlestick Cove, which is located across the US 101 freeway, approximately 0.1-mile north of the Baylands Project Site (ISP 2013). The Spartina Project report concluded that Brisbane Lagoon – in addition to Sierra Point and Candlestick Cove – contains poor quality and insufficient habitat to support this species (ISP 2013). Due to poor habitat conditions and lack of detections during surveys, the California clapper rail is not expected to occur on or near the Brisbane Baylands Project Site.
Draft EIR Table 4.C-1 has been updated to include 2011 California clapper rail results of the Spartina Project report.
[See page 5-182 for the original comment] Surveys of wetlands and other habitats within the Baylands were conducted in 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2013 and used to determine the 2010 baseline conditions and prepare a habitat map,