[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 25, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-26413]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 25, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

 

Notice of Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for Spectacled 
Eiders for Review and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the 
availability for public review of a draft recovery plan for spectacled 
eiders (Somateria fischeri). The species occurs in arctic and sub-
arctic regions of western and northern Alaska and along the arctic 
coast of Russia. The Service is proposing emphasis on recovery actions 
in these geographic areas. The Service solicits review and comment from 
the public on this draft plan.

DATES: Comments on the draft recovery plan must be received on or 
before February 23, 1995 to receive consideration by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the draft recovery plan may obtain 
a copy by contacting Teresa Woods at 1011 E. Tudor Rd., Anchorage, 
Alaska, 99503-6199 and 907/786-3505. Written comments and materials 
regarding the plan should be addressed to Teresa Woods at the above 
address. Comments and materials received are available on request for 
public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the 
above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teresa Woods at the above address and 
telephone number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point 
where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is 
a primary goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered 
species program. To help guide the recovery effort, the Service is 
working to prepare recovery plans for most of the listed species native 
to the United States. Recovery plans describe actions considered 
necessary for conservation of the species, establish criteria for the 
recovery levels for downlisting or delisting them, and estimate time 
and cost for implementing the recovery measures needed.
    The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.) (Act) requires the development of recovery plans for listed 
species unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a 
particular species. Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in 1988, 
requires that public notice and an opportunity for public review and 
comment be provided during recovery plan development. The Service will 
consider all information presented during the public comment period 
prior to approval of each new or revised Recovery Plan. The Service and 
other Federal agencies will also take these comments into account in 
the course of implementing approved recovery plans.
    The spectacled eider is a large-bodied sea duck and one of three 
species in the genus Somateria. Spectacled eiders historically nested 
discontinuously along the west coast of Alaska from Nushagak Peninsula 
north to Barrow and east nearly to the Yukon Territory border (Bailey 
1948; Dau and Kistchinski 1977; Derksen et al. 1981; Johnson and Herter 
1989; Warnock and Troy 1993). They also have nested on St. Lawrence 
Island, Alaska, in the Bering Sea (Fay 1961). Along the arctic coast of 
Russia, spectacled eiders nest from the north side of the Chukotsk 
Peninsula west to the Lena River Delta and Novosibirski Islands 
(Buturlin 1910; Dementev and Gladkov 1952; Portenko 1972). Today, 
primary nesting grounds are the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and north central 
arctic coast (Cape Simpson to the Sagavanirktok River, hereafter 
referred to as the North Slope) of Alaska and the Chaun Gulf and 
Kolyma, Indigirka and Yana river deltas in Russia.
    The Service estimates that the number of nesting spectacled eiders 
on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has rapidly and continuously declined by 
over 96 percent in the past 20 years (Stehn et al. 1993; Warnock and 
Troy 1993; Ely et al., in press). Information from researchers in the 
Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, oilfields (Warnock and Troy 1993) and Native 
elders at Wainwright (R. Suydam, pers. comm.) suggest local population 
declines on the North Slope. No data are available for examining 
overall trends on the North Slope or in Arctic Russia.
    The Service responded to a December 1990 petition to list the 
spectacled eider as endangered. After review of the best available 
commercial and scientific data the species was designated as threatened 
on May 10, 1993 (FR 58(88):24474-27480). The primary reason for listing 
spectacled eiders was their rapid and continuing decline on the Yukon-
Kuskokwim Delta breeding grounds, and indications that they may have 
declined on Alaska's North Slope, as well. Other factors that 
contributed to the Service's concern for the species' status were 
varying impacts due to human activities and population growth.
    Causes of this species' dramatic decline, as well as the 
identification and determination of relative importance of current 
obstacles to recovery, have yet to be determined. Several current and 
historical causes of mortality have been identified; they are predation 
by fox and gulls, subsistence and sport harvest, egg and scientific 
collecting, and environmental contamination. Other causes of mortality 
are suspected, such as collisions with commercial fishing vessels, 
changes in the food web, global climatic changes, competition from 
other marine species, and diseases and parasites.
    Basic natural history information to elucidate the causes for 
decline and obstacles for recovery is lacking. Information about the 
distribution and abundance of spectacled eiders throughout the year is 
fragmentary, as is our understanding of the demography and population 
dynamics of this species. Whether the nesting populations of spectacled 
eiders in the three primary geographic areas are genetically or 
demographically distinct is unknown, yet specific recovery actions and 
priorities may hinge on such a determination.
    In light of these significant data gaps, an exhaustive list of 
tasks required to achieve recovery cannot yet be presented. Instead, 
interim recovery efforts that proceed simultaneously along three 
fronts--preliminary management actions to eliminate known sources of 
mortality; exploratory data collection and analysis; and hypothesis-
testing regarding the causes of the species' decline and obstacles to 
its recovery--are recommended. Over the next several years, recovery 
efforts should focus on the following topics:
    (1) Through meaningful participation, involve Native Alaskans 
living within the historical range of the species in recovery and 
management efforts;
    (2) Increase efforts to reduce mortality;
    (3) Quantify and monitor existing breeding populations;
    (4) Determine molting, migration, and wintering areas and habitats;
    (5) Conduct research on the demography and biology of the species 
and develop demographic models; and
    (6) Attempt to determine causes for the species' decline and 
obstacles to its recovery.
    The geographic areas of emphasis for these recovery efforts are the 
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the North Slope, and to a lesser degree St. 
Lawrence Island, and Seward Peninsula, Alaska, and Arctic Russia.

Public Comments Solicited

    The Service solicits written comments on the recovery plan 
described. All comments received by the date specified above will be 
considered prior to approval of the plan.

References Cited

Baily, A.M., 1948. Birds of Arctic Alaska. Colorado Mus. Nat. Hist., 
Pop. Ser. No. 8. 317 p.
Buturlin, S.A. 1910. The true home of the spectacled eider. Condor 
12:46.
Dau, C.P. and A.A. Kistchinski. 1977. Seasonal movements and 
distribution of the spectacled eider. Wildfowl 28:65-75.
Dementev, G.P. and N.A. Gladkov (eds.) 1952. Birds of the Soviet Union, 
Vol. 4. Translated by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations in 
1967. National Tech. Info. Serv., U.S. Dept. Comm., Springfield, VA. 
683 p.
Derksen, D.V., T.C. Rothe, and W.D. Eldridge. 1981. Use of wetland 
habitats in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. U.S. Fish and Wildl. 
Serv., Resource Pub. 141, 27 p.
Ely, C.R., C.P. Dau and C.A. Babcock. In Press. Long-term decline in a 
population of spectacled eiders nesting near the Kashunuk River, Yukon-
Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Northwestern Naturalist.
Fay, F.H. 1961. The distribution of waterfowl to St. Lawrence Island, 
Alaska. Wildfowl 12:70-80.
Johnson, S.R. and D.R. Herter. 1989. The birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP 
Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, AK. 372 p.
Portenko, L.A. 1972. Birds of the Chukchi Peninsula and Wrangel Island. 
Vol. 2, Nauka, Leningrad, USSR (in Russian).
Stehn, R.A., C.P. Dau, B. Conant and W.I. Butler, Jr. (1993). Decline 
of spectacled eiders nesting in western Alaska. Arctic 46(3):264-277.
Warnock, N.D., and D.M. Troy. 1993. Distribution and abundance of 
spectacled eiders at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: 1991. Unpubl. Rept. for BP 
Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Environmental and Regulatory Affairs 
Department, Anchorage, AK. 21 p.

Authority

    The authority for this action is Section 4(f) of the Endangered 
Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

    Dated: October 14, 1994.
 David B. Allen,
Acting Regional Director, Region 7, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 94-26413 Filed 10-24-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P