1. Offshore Central Coastal California Seismic Imaging Project April 4, 2012 Central Coastal California Seismic Imaging Program September 10, 2012

2. 1 Agenda Program Overview Discussions with Commercial Fishers Analysis of Impacts to Fish and Fish Larvae Monitoring of Impacts to Fish - CCFRP Next Steps

3. 2 3D/Offshore 1.Offshore three- dimensional (3D) high energy survey 2.Onshore two- dimensional (2D) high energy survey 3.Nearshore seafloor geophones

4. 3 Offshore Survey Racetrack Within 25 meter depth October - December 24/7 operations (duration doubled if daylight only) 68-days total survey duration - actual survey is 33 days Fishing restricted from actively-surveyed box

5. 4 Offshore Seismic Imaging Cambria to Point San Luis in water up to 1,400 ft. Specialized survey vessel approximately 240 ft in length Vessel-towed individual or multiple strings of tuned air guns with a volume of 3,300 in 3 Vessel-towed hydrophone streamer array of 2.5 to 5 miles length

6. 5 Towed Air Gun Array and Acoustic Streamers

7. 6 Seismic Survey Process

8. 7 Offshore Survey Procedures Marine Wildlife Contingency Plan approved by NOAA Fisheries/USFWS as part of the IHA approval process –Pre-activity aerial surveys and equipment noise level testing –Established Safety (160 db) and Exclusion Zones (180 db) as approved by NOAA –Ramp-up of all air guns –Power downs/Shut downs of air guns –Mitigation air gun on during all turns and temporary shut-downs –Marine mammal monitors onboard all survey vessels and if necessary aircraft –Local commercial fishing vessels likely used to support operations –Scheduled to coincide with low marine mammal activity (late fall/early winter) Notification to mariners and commercial fishers Avoidance of sensitive resource areas to extent feasible

9. 8 Discussions With Commercial Fishers August 17, 2011 – Port San Luis August 25, 2011 – Morro Bay September 7, 2011 – Morro Bay November 18, 2011 – Port San Luis December 6, 2011 – Port San Luis March 13, 2012 – Port San Luis July 10, 2012 – Morro Bay August 8, 2012 – Morro Bay –Program details –Analysis of impacts to fish/fish larvae –Compensation for short-term impacts –Long-term monitoring

10. 9 Studies on Potential Effects on Fishes 1.Overview of effects on fishes of High Energy Seismic Surveys (HESS) using airguns including summary of CDF&G catch block data for areas affected by HESS 2.Modeling study to estimate potential larval fish mortality from HESS

11. 10 Study 1. Overview of Effects on Fishes of High Energy Seismic Surveys Information largely drawn from June 2011 Programmatic EIS/OEIS for marine seismic research funded by the NSF or conducted by the USGS Conclusions regarding effects on fishes Short-term behavioral effects potentially resulting in short-term, localized displacement or disturbance of individual fish are the most likely effects expected under Alternative A or B as a result of exposure to airgun and airgun array sounds. The small number of individual fish that could potentially experience injurious or mortal impacts when within a few meters of a high-energy acoustic source is considered insignificant on a population scale.

12. 11 Also presents summary of CDF&G catch block data for six years (2006 to 2011) Analyses included various catch blocks due to changes in extent of survey Final analysis for 17 blocks plus offshore Block 1036 Includes Box 3 Study 1. Overview of Effects on Fishes of High Energy Seismic Surveys

13. 12 Average value for four month period when testing would occur averaged ~$1.2 million. Conservative since HESS will be over shorter period and not restrict all fishing. Data from Fish Blocks 0601, 0602, 0603, 0607, 0608, 0609, 0614, 0615, 0616, 0617, 0622, 0623, 0624, 0625, 0631, 0632, 0633, 1036 Month 200620072008200920102011 Landings (lbs) Landings Value($) Landings (lbs) Landings Value($) Landings (lbs) Landings Value($) Landings (lbs) Landings Value($) Landings (lbs) Landings Value($) Landings (lbs) Landings Value($) January55,874118,41439,070102,91225,12370,274115,712223,95442,707102,69272,649210,092 February63,941184,03332,128118,63437,998123,782119,393188,47860,384111,58684,351188,736 March45,270108,27950,09057,46730,69645,55658,93261,86057,19982,19641,45584,641 April47,368101,09321,64167,56734,39146,25950,35257,39447,24759,65341,07183,100 May104,676254,61545,142206,75358,803209,494105,400216,511115,639131,32265,880214,835 June108,365253,22543,829160,16962,216174,256171,535248,40372,475177,162110,959314,510 July30,742116,62134,786143,80480,449207,597105,272194,85989,463238,708176,843320,774 August68,739147,76549,173159,364102,363230,604125,660223,934103,767242,4351,895,326713,082 September155,764197,05655,647190,73890,300221,142199,628340,509158,442309,518217,198535,736 October110,633228,84296,916230,83365,749167,283153,232216,959112,183228,141907,722602,894 November121,598242,82672,755157,87386,883165,728320,380277,367205,512280,838398,4671,420,645 December42,70899,23454,45994,95067,338125,99299,803200,13139,719131,197245,437523,015 Totals by Year Sept ̶ Dec 430,703$767,957279,776$674,394310,269$680,145773,043$1,034,966515,857$949,6941,768,824$3,082,290 Total Value Per Year $2,052,001 $1,691,064 $1,787,965 $2,450,358 $2,095,448 $5,212,060 Mean Value Sept ̶ Dec $1,198,241 Study 1. Overview of Effects on Fishes of High Energy Seismic Surveys

14. 13 Study 2. Modeling study to estimate potential larval fish mortality from HESS Analysis based on four survey areas – total transect lengths within State waters estimated at 1,127 km (700 mi). At an average vessel speed of 4.5 knots cumulative impact period of 5.6 days Estimates done for total area and area within Point Buchon MPA (PtBMPA) Includes Box 3

15. 14 Study 2. Modeling study to estimate potential larval fish mortality from HESS Assume all larvae within radii of 1.0, 3.0, and 5.5 m are killed by airgun emissions 1 Two mortality estimates 1.Absolute based on concentrations from studies off DCPP 2.Conditional based on assumption of uniform concentration in impacted and non-impacted areas. Based on modeling approach used for power plant studies in CA 2 1 Based on reviews in Payne 2004 and Davis et. al 1998 2 Steinbeck et al. 2007. California Energy Commission Report CEC-700-2007-010

16. 15 Study 2. Modeling study to estimate potential larval fish mortality from HESS Absolute Estimates Larval density data for months of Sept ̶ Dec 1997 and 1998 were used to estimate losses of 3.73 ̶ 3.99 million larvae for the 5.5 m radius in the total area, with 1.09 ̶ 1.17 million of those occurring in the PtBMPA The estimate for the 1 m radius in the total area was 123,142 ̶ 131,943 fish larvae, with 36,140 ̶ 38,723 within the PtBMPA

17. 16 Study 2. Modeling study to estimate potential larval fish mortality from HESS Conditional Mortality Estimates 5.5 m radius HESS-induced mortality highest for pipefishes (0.12%), followed by gobies (0.08%), and Pacific sanddabs (0.05 ̶ 0.06%) PtBMPA mortality highest for pipefishes (0.22%), followed by gobies (0.15 ̶ 0.16%), and Pacific sanddabs (0.10 ̶ 0.11%) Mortality for most larvae < 0.05%, which is very low relative to natural mortality rates. For example, natural mortality for larval northern anchovy over a 5.6 day period calculated using average daily survival estimates would be 53.6% compared to maximums of 0.02 ̶ 0.03% for HESS.

18. 17 Monitoring of Impacts to Fish - CCFRP California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP) Utilize Baseline Date of Catch Rates (CPUE) –Baseline Data (July 15 th through September 15 th since 2007 – Extensive baseline supported by local commercial fishers Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) Design Before, During, After plus 2014-2017

19. 18 Overall Monitoring Commitments/Requirements Marine Wildlife Contingency Plan (MWCP) Sea Otter monitoring program Before, during, after monitoring and long-term fish monitoring

20. 19 Next Steps Obtain permits, including SCP Finalize monitoring programs Implement monitoring programs Collect baseline/”before” data Implement survey/collect “during” data Collect “after”, subsequent year data Reporting

21. 20 Questions?