[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 234 (Monday, December 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75997-75998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30760]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XE341
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Fisheries Research
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for Letters of Authorization;
request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS' Office of Protected Resources has received a request
from the NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) for
authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to
conducting fisheries research, over the course of five years from the
date of issuance. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of the PIFSC's
request for the development and implementation of regulations governing
the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to
provide information, suggestions, and comments on the PIFSC's
application and request.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than January
6, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and
electronic comments should be sent to [email protected].
Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted to the Internet at
www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/research.htm without change.
All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit
confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Laws, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability
An electronic copy of the PIFSC's application may be obtained by
visiting the Internet at: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/research.htm. The PIFSC is concurrently releasing a draft Environmental
Assessment, prepared pursuant to requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act, for the conduct of their fisheries research.
A copy of the draft EA, which would also support our proposed
rulemaking under the MMPA, is available at the same Web site.
Background
Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs
the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to allow, upon request, the
incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine
mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than
commercial fishing) if certain findings are made and regulations are
issued.
Incidental taking shall be allowed if NMFS finds that the taking
will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) affected and
will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the
species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses, and if the
permissible methods of taking and requirements pertaining to the
mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such taking are set forth.
NMFS has defined ``negligible impact'' in 50 CFR 216.103 as ``an
impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably
expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the
species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or
survival.''
Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, the
MMPA defines ``harassment'' as: ``any act of pursuit, torment, or
annoyance which (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or
marine mammal stock in the wild [Level A harassment]; or (ii) has the
potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild
by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not
limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or
sheltering [Level B harassment].''
Summary of Request
On November 30, 2015, NMFS received an adequate and complete
application from the PIFSC requesting authorization for take of marine
mammals incidental to fisheries research conducted by the PIFSC. The
requested regulations would be valid for five years from the date of
issuance. The PIFSC plans to conduct fisheries research surveys in
multiple geographic regions within the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii,
Samoa, the Marianas, and the western and central Pacific broadly
(including the Pacific Remote Island Area). It is possible that marine
mammals may interact with fishing gear (e.g., trawls nets, longlines)
used in PIFSC's fisheries research projects, resulting in injury,
serious injury, or mortality. In addition, the PIFSC operates active
acoustic devices that have the potential to disturb marine mammals.
Because the specified activities have the potential to take marine
mammals present within these action areas, the PIFSC requests
authorization to take multiple species of marine mammal that may occur
in these areas.
Specified Activities
The Federal Government has a responsibility to conserve and protect
living marine resources in U.S. federal waters and has also entered
into a number of international agreements and treaties related to the
management of living marine resources in international waters outside
the United States. NOAA has the primary responsibility for managing
marine fin and shellfish species and their habitats, with that
[[Page 75998]]
responsibility delegated within NOAA to NMFS.
In order to direct and coordinate the collection of scientific
information needed to make informed management decisions, Congress
created six Regional Fisheries Science Centers, each a distinct
organizational entity and the scientific focal point within NMFS for
region-based federal fisheries-related research. This research is aimed
at monitoring fish stock recruitment, abundance, survival and
biological rates, geographic distribution of species and stocks,
ecosystem process changes, and marine ecological research. The PIFSC is
the research arm of NMFS in the Pacific Islands.
Research is aimed at monitoring fish stock recruitment, survival
and biological rates, abundance and geographic distribution of species
and stocks, and providing other scientific information needed to
improve our understanding of complex marine ecological processes. The
PIFSC proposes to administer and conduct these survey programs over the
five-year period.
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and
comments concerning the PIFSC's request (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will
consider all information, suggestions, and comments related to the
request during the development of proposed regulations governing the
incidental taking of marine mammals by the PIFSC, if appropriate.
Dated: December 2, 2015.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-30760 Filed 12-4-15; 8:45 am]
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