[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 96 (Thursday, May 18, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26720-26721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-12182]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[Docket No. 950508132-5132-01; I.D. 010995D]


Information Relating to Bowhead Whales; U.S. Implementation of 
Bowhead Whale Strike Quota

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NOAA is soliciting public comment on the proposed allocation 
to U.S. natives of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) bowhead 
whale catch limit.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 19, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be mailed to the Office of 
International Affairs, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-
West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. A list of documents reviewed for 
this action may be obtained upon request, and the documents examined 
during the comment period during business hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at 
this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Blankenbeker, 301-713-2276.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA is responsible for implementation and 
enforcement of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361-1407), 
the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C 1531-1543), and the Whaling 
Convention Act (16 U.S.C. 916-9161). In addition, it provides staff 
support to the [[Page 26721]] U.S. Commissioner to the IWC and to the 
IWC Interagency Committee. Consistent with these responsibilities, NOAA 
develops positions for implementation of the aboriginal/subsistence 
harvest of bowhead whales under paragraph 13 of the Schedule to the 
International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling, December 2, 
1946, 62 Stat. 1716, T.I.A.S. No. 1849 (entered into force, November 
10, 1948).
    In order to provide for review and comment by the public of the 
data upon which the U.S. positions are based, the following information 
is provided: (1) The IWC catch level available for the U.S. aboriginal/
subsistence bowhead whale harvest for 1995-98; (2) a summary of 
available bowhead scientific information, including estimates of 
current population level and annual recruitment rates; (3) a summary of 
information on the nature and extent of aboriginal/subsistence need; 
(4) the level of aboriginal/subsistence harvest limits that could be 
implemented domestically; and (5) notice of the availability of those 
documents reviewed by NOAA and relied on by the Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere in making his finding on the range 
of harvest limits. NOAA is soliciting public comment on the proposed 
domestic implementation of the IWC bowhead whale catch limit.

1. Catch Level

    At the 46th Annual Meeting of the IWC in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 
May 23-27, 1994, the following catch limit was established for 
aboriginal/subsistence whaling:

    For the years 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998, the number of bowhead 
whales landed shall not exceed 204, and the number of bowhead whales 
struck shall not exceed 68 in 1995, 67 in 1996, 66 in 1997, and 65 
in 1998, except that any unused portion of the strike quota for each 
year shall be carried forward from that year and added to the strike 
quota of any subsequent years, provided that no more than 10 strikes 
shall be added to the strike quota for any 1 year.

    It was clarified on the floor of the meeting that if 15 of the 
allowed strikes were not used in 1 year, 10 of those strikes could be 
carried over to the next year and the remaining 5 strikes could be 
added to another year.

2. Scientific Information

    At the 1994 Annual Meeting of the IWC, an assessment of the status 
of bowhead whales was completed using a series of relative abundance 
estimates and an absolute abundance from acoustic and visual survey 
data collected in 1988. The resulting analysis suggested that the 
population currently is increasing at 3.1 percent annually (95 percent 
confidence interval 1.4 percent to 4.7 percent), is at 36 percent of 
its pre-exploitation abundance (95 percent confidence interval 0.27-
0.44), and has a median value for the replacement yield of 199 (95 
percent probability interval 97-300). A minimum replacement yield was 
estimated to be 104 animals per year; 104 is the fifth percentile 
replacement yield of the replacement yield distribution. Projections of 
population size under three levels of takes were made, suggesting that 
the population likely would increase at recent levels of aboriginal 
catches. Major uncertainties identified included: (1) Completing the 
analysis of the acoustic survey data from 1993, (2) methods of 
correcting visual sighting data for distribution away from the sighting 
location, (3) prior distributions for several input parameters, and (4) 
the degree of genetic interchange between this stock and other more 
depleted stocks of bowhead whales.

3. Aboriginal/Subsistence Need

    In 1994, in response to a Federal Register document soliciting 
comments on a proposed U.S. position, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 
Commission (AEWC) submitted a recalculation of the aboriginal 
subsistence and cultural need for 9 whaling villages using estimated 
populations for 1992 provided by the State Demographer of Alaska. Based 
on the 1992 estimated populations, the calculated need for bowhead 
whales in those 9 whaling villages was 50.
    At the 1994 Annual Meeting of the IWC, the United States sought IWC 
recognition that the island of Little Diomede has a subsistence and 
cultural need to land 1 bowhead whale per year. Together with the 50 
bowheads needed for the other whaling villages, the total needed is 51. 
Assuming a target efficiency rate of 75 percent, this would require a 
quota of 68 strikes.
    In setting a limit of 204 bowhead whales landed for 4 years (an 
average of 51 animals per year), the United States believes that the 
IWC implicitly acknowledged the subsistence and cultural need of Little 
Diomede to land 1 bowhead whale per year.

4. Domestic Harvest Range

    The IWC management scheme for aboriginal/subsistence whaling 
provides (in Schedule paragraph 13(a)(2)):

    For stocks below the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) level but 
above a certain minimum level, aboriginal/subsistence catches shall 
be permitted so long as they are set at levels which allow whale 
stocks to move to the MSY level.

    Given the above-stated minimum estimate of replacement yields of 
104, an aboriginal/subsistence catch can be permitted in 1995.
    Therefore, the catch limits for bowhead whales in 1995 shall be 
such that no more than a total of 68 bowhead whales are struck. For the 
years 1995 to 1998 combined, the number of bowhead whales landed shall 
not exceed 204.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 916, 1361-1407, 1531-43.

    Dated: May 11, 1995.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-12182 Filed 5-17-95; 8:45 am]
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