[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 134 (Thursday, July 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41168-41170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-17034]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XZ28
Marine Mammals; Subsistence Taking of Northern Fur Seals; St.
Paul Island
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of a petition for rulemaking under
the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The Pribilof Island Community
of St. Paul Island, Aleut Community of St. Paul Island-Tribal
Government (St. Paul) petitioned NMFS to revise regulations governing
the subsistence taking of northern fur seals on St. Paul Island. St.
Paul's petition requests that NMFS revise the regulations to allow
residents of St. Paul, Alaska to: Take male young of the year (less
than 1 year old) fur seals; take a total of up to 3,000 fur seals
annually compared to 2,000 currently allowed, including up to 1,500
male young of the year and up to 1,500 sub-adult (1-4 years old) males;
hunt or harvest fur seals during a total of 329 days annually, rather
than the 47-day harvest season provided for under existing regulations;
and take fur seals with firearms, in addition to harvesting (the
current method of herding, stunning, and immediate exsanguination,
which is allowed under existing regulations). NMFS solicits public
comment on all aspects of this request.
[[Page 41169]]
DATES: Written comments must be received at the appropriate address or
fax number by September 10, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Jon Kurland, Assistant Regional
Administrator for Protected Resources, Alaska Region, Attn: Ellen
Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified by FDMS Docket Number
NOAA-NMFS-2012-0038, by any one of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal www.regulations.gov. To
submit comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, first click the ``submit a
comment'' icon, then enter NOAA-NMFS-2012-0038 in the keyword search.
Locate the document you wish to comment on from the resulting list and
click on the ``Submit a Comment'' icon on the right of that line.
Mail: Submit written comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau,
AK 99802.
Fax: 907-586-7557.
Hand Delivery to the Federal Building: 709 West 9th
Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK.
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above
methods to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and
considered by NMFS. Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered. All comments received are a part of the public
record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the
sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you
wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be
accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file
formats only.
Information related to the request for rulemaking is available on
the Internet at the following address: http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/protectedresources/seals/fur.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Williams, (907) 271-5006,
email [email protected]; Jon Kurland, (907) 586-7235, email
[email protected]; or Shannon Bettridge, (301) 427-8402, email
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subsistence harvest of northern fur
seals on the Pribilof Islands is governed by regulations at 50 CFR
216.71-.74 established under the Fur Seal Act (FSA) 16 U.S.C. 1511 et
seq., and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.
The regulations impose a variety of restrictions on the harvest of fur
seals on St. Paul Island. The regulations (1) Establish a 47-day period
between June 23 and August 8 of each year during which fur seals may be
taken for subsistence purposes; (2) limit the harvest of sub-adult male
fur seals to those less than 124.5 cm in length (i.e., <=4 years old);
(3) identify specific hauling grounds from which fur seals may be taken
and provide that no hauling ground on St. Paul may be harvested more
than once per week; (4) require that NMFS receive adequate advance
notice of scheduled harvest activities to enable NMFS to monitor the
harvest; (5) and require NMFS to publish triennially a summary of the
harvest during the preceding three years and the estimated subsistence
needs for the next three years (71 FR 8222; 73 FR 49616; 77 FR 6682).
The harvest regulations additionally state (50 CFR 216.72(c)(2)): No
fur seal may be taken except by experienced sealers using the
traditional harvesting methods, including stunning followed immediately
by exsanguination. The harvesting method shall include organized drives
of sub-adult males to killing fields unless it is determined by the
NMFS representatives, in consultation with the Pribilovians conducting
the harvest, that alternative methods will not result in increased
disturbance to the rookery or the increased accidental take of female
seals.
St. Paul submitted a resolution on February 16, 2007, requesting
that NMFS change the regulations to allow a harvest that St. Paul
asserts better fits the scope and duration of their customary and
traditional seal harvests and to allow hunting with firearms that St.
Paul asserts will better meet their changing subsistence needs. NMFS
considers this resolution, together with subsequent letters and
documents submitted in the past few years by St. Paul, to be a petition
for rulemaking under the APA.
The St. Paul petition states that the subsistence harvest methods
currently authorized by NMFS were developed to transition from a
commercial harvest to a subsistence harvest and no longer accommodate
the community's changing subsistence needs. The petition further
suggests that the subsistence harvest methods currently authorized do
not reflect the customary and traditional practices of harvesting young
of the year (i.e., less than one year old) fur seals and hunting male
fur seals of various ages. The current method, hereafter referred to as
``harvest,'' involves organized herding and driving of groups of sub-
adult male fur seals from the hauling grounds to the killing fields,
where they are taken by harvesters who come in close proximity with the
seals before taking them. By contrast, ``hunting'' refers to an
individual shooting with a firearm specific fur seals from some
distance while the seals occupy the hauling (or breeding) grounds.
St. Paul's petition requests that NMFS establish separate seasons
during which residents may hunt and harvest fur seals. St. Paul's
petition recognizes three different age classes of sub-adult male fur
seals: young of the year (animals less than one year old); yearlings
(one-year old animals); and sub-adults (animals between 2 and 4 years
old). St. Paul requested that NMFS modify its regulations to allow:
(1) Take by harvesting and individual hunting of up to 1,500 young
of the year male fur seals annually from August 25 to December 31, of
which no more than 10% may be composed of incidental take of female
young of the year;
(2) Take by harvesting and hunting with firearms of up to 1,500
sub-adult (i.e., 1-4 year-old) male fur seals annually in the following
St. Paul hauling grounds: Reef, Gorbatch, Morjovi, Sea Lion Neck,
Vostochni, Big Zapadni, Little Zapadni, Zapadni Reef, Tolstoi,
Polovina, Lukanin, and Ketovi;
(3) Take by firearms sub-adult males at Sea Lion Neck beginning
September 1 through June 1 of each year and from October 15 through
June 1 at the following hauling grounds: Reef, Gorbatch, Morjovi,
Vostochni, Big Zapadni, Little Zapadni, Zapadni Reef, Tolstoi,
Polovina, Lukanin, and Ketovi;
(4) Extension of the current annual harvest period for all sub-
adult males by two days (from June 23-August 8 to June 23-August 10)
and an additional harvest period for sub-adult males from September 15
to October 31; and
(5) St. Paul residents to individually hunt young of the year fur
seals with firearms no larger than .22 caliber and a minimum of .22
caliber to take sub-adult males.
Taking outside the June 23 to August 8 season, taking of adult or
young of the year fur seals, and the intentional taking of sub-adult
female fur seals are all prohibited under the current regulations.
St. Paul requests that NMFS authorize the hunting and harvesting of
young of the year and sub-adult male fur seals
[[Page 41170]]
during the specified seasons at any of the following hauling grounds:
Reef, Gorbatch, Morjovi, Sea Lion Neck, Vostochni, Big Zapadni, Little
Zapadni, Zapadni Reef, Tolstoi, Polovina, Lukanin, and Ketovi. The
current regulations allow fur seals to be harvested in all of these
hauling grounds. St. Paul's intent in describing these subsistence use
areas was to clarify ambiguity in the current regulations which use a
combination of regional fur seal breeding area names (e.g., Northeast
Point) along with individually-named breeding areas (e.g., Kitovi). St.
Paul intends for the regulations to employ the locally-used seasonal
subsistence place names for those places where northern fur seals may
be harvested under the regulations. According to St. Paul, a separate
spring hunt and fall hunt and harvest season at the above hauling
grounds would better meet the community's customary and traditional use
of the northern fur seal. These changes are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1--Requested modifications of the northern fur seal harvesting regulations as compared to existing
regulations
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Current regulations Petitioned changes
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Coordinated harvesting Coordinated harvesting Individuals hunting
Subsistence method crew crew with rirearms
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Season for Young-of-the-Year (<1 year None................... Aug. 25-Dec. 31........ Aug. 25-Dec. 31.
old) males.
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Annual Number of Young-of-the-Year 0...................... 1,500 including both methods.
(<1 year old) males.
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Season for Sub-adult (1-4 year old) June 23-Aug. 8......... June 23-Aug. 10........ Sept. 1-June 1 (Sea
males. Sept. 15-Oct. 31....... Lion Neck) Oct. 15-
June 1 (other
specified hauling
ground locations).
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Annual Number of Sub-adult (1-4 year 1,645-2,000 (for 2011- 1,500 Including both methods.
old) males. 2013).
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Total open period................ 47 days................ 178 days............... 281 days.
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NMFS is uncertain about the frequency of young of the year and
yearlings occupying hauling grounds, rather than breeding areas, during
the time of year proposed for taking by St. Paul. It is also uncertain
whether hunters would consider young of the year and yearlings more
available and accessible on the specified hauling grounds than breeding
grounds.
Each of the St. Paul's named hauling grounds has an associated
breeding ground. Adult, sub-adult, and young of the year fur seals
alter their use of hauling grounds and breeding grounds as the season
progresses, largely as a result of the departure of territorial adult
males beginning in August and the onset of strong storms later in the
autumn. As a result, in late summer the distinction between hauling
grounds and breeding grounds becomes unclear.
Moreover, NMFS scientists have determined the vast majority of
yearlings do not return to land and instead remain at sea. On rare
occasions during the autumn yearling fur seals can be found on the
Pribilof Islands but are not considered a significant part of the
population on land until they are two years old. The current timing
restriction results in exclusion of yearlings from the harvest, as few
if any are found on land until well after the end of the subsistence
harvest season (August 8). St. Paul's request to take fur seals in
September-December will likely result in the taking of yearlings and
therefore this separate age class can be grouped into the sub-adult
category for the purposes of the petition. NMFS has not previously
considered the taking of yearlings in prior harvest assessments.
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, has determined
that the petition contains enough information to warrant consideration
of the requests. NMFS solicits public comment on St. Paul's request to
modify regulations that govern the taking of fur seals for subsistence
purposes by residents of St. Paul Island.
NMFS is particularly interested in information that would improve
NMFS's evaluation of the effects on the fur seal population of:
(1) Extension of the current 47-day harvest season to a 178-day
harvest season and creation of an additional 281-day individual hunting
season with firearms;
(2) Increased lethal takes of adult and sub-adult females by
hunters due to the difficulty of distinguishing young male from young
female fur seals at a distance;
(3) Increased human presence on the hauling grounds and breeding
grounds throughout the year and resultant harassment of fur seals; and
(4) Seals wounded, but not lethally taken, by hunters using
firearms.
NMFS is also interested in information regarding the extent to
which young of the year occupy the hauling grounds as opposed to the
breeding grounds. Finally, NMFS is interested in information that would
improve our evaluation of the risk to field researchers studying fur
seals, who may be present on or near these sites during hunting
activities.
NMFS will consider public comments received in determining whether
to proceed with any of the revisions of the regulations requested by
St. Paul. Upon determining whether to initiate the requested or
alternative rulemaking, the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,
NOAA, will publish in the Federal Register a proposed rule or
notice of the Agency's final disposition of St. Paul's petition.
Dated: July 9, 2012.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, performing the functions and
duties of the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-17034 Filed 7-11-12; 8:45 am]
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