[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 177 (Monday, September 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49132-49133]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24562]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Marine Mammals; Stock Assessment Reports

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of revised marine mammal stock 
assessment reports for Pacific walrus and polar bear in Alaska.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 
the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has considered public comments and 
revised the marine mammal stock assessment reports for the Alaska 
Chukchi/Bering Seas polar bear stock, Alaska Beaufort Sea polar bear 
stock, and Alaska Pacific walrus stock. They are now complete and 
copies of the revised reports are available to the public. The results 
are summarized below.

                                                                                 Stock Assessment Summary Table                                                                                 
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                                                                                                                                           Causes of mortality                                  
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            Species/stock                       NEST                      NMIN            RMAX     FR              PBR            Subsistence                                  Stock status     
                                                                                                                                    (5 year      Fishery       Other                            
                                                                                                                                      avg)                                                      
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Polar bear/Alaska Chukchi Bering      Not available...........  Not available..........       0       1  Unknown................           45            0          <10  Nonstrategic.          
 Seas stock.                                                                                                                                                                                    
Polar bear/Alaska Southern Beaufort   1,756...................  1,611..................       0       1  73.....................           55            0           <1  Nonstrategic.          
 Sea stock.                                                                                                                                                                                     
Pacific Walrus/Alaska stock.........  201,039.................  188,316................       0       1  7,533..................        4,869           17            4  Nonstrategic.          
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* Probably similar to Alaska Southern Beaufort Sea Stock.                                                                                                                                       

    The sea otter stock assessments for Alaska are not final pending 
resolution of a request by the Alaska Sea Otter Commission for a 
proceeding on the record (pursuant to Section 117(b)(2) of the MMPA). 
This request is related to the Service's identification of three sea 
otter stocks in Alaska in the draft stock assessment reports published 
in March 1998 as opposed to the one stock identified in the 1995 
report.
    The sources of information or published reports upon which these 
assessments are available in the Reference section of each stock 
assessment report.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the revised stock assessment reports for polar 
bear and walrus and the draft stock assessment reports for sea otters 
in Alaska including a list of the sources of information or published 
reports on which these assessments were made are available from the (1) 
Office of Marine Mammals Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska 99503; or (2) Division of Fish 
and Wildlife Management Assistance, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Room 840-ARLSQ, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22203. 
Copies of the FWS's final stock assessment reports for the northern sea 
otter in Alaska, southern sea otter in California, the northern sea 
otter in Washington State, and the Florida and Antillean stocks of West 
Indian manatees from the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico, 
are available from address (2) above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeff Horwath, in the FWS's Division of Fish and Wildlife Management 
Assistance, Arlington, Virginia at (703) 358-1718. For information 
specifically about polar bears, Pacific walrus, and northern sea otters 
in Alaska, contact the Supervisor at Marine Mammals Management at (907) 
786-3800 or FAX: (907) 786-3816.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 117 of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361-
1407) required the FWS and the National Marine Fisheries Service to 
prepare stock assessment reports for each marine mammal stock that 
occurs in waters under the jurisdiction of the United States. In late 
1995, the Service issued final stock assessment reports for polar bears 
and Pacific walrus in Alaska as required, and announced their 
completion and public availability in a Federal Register notice on 
October 4, 1995 (60 FR 52008). As required by the MMPA, these reports 
contained information regarding the distribution and abundance of the 
stocks, population growth rates and trends, estimates of human-caused 
mortality from all sources, descriptions of the fisheries with which 
the stocks interact, and the status of each stock.

    Section 117 of the MMPA also requires the FWS and the NMFS, 
consistent with any new information that indicates that the status of a 
stock has changed or can be more accurately determined, to revise these 
reports annually for strategic stocks of marine mammals and every three 
years for stocks determined to be non-strategic. In accordance with 
these statutory provisions, the FWS prepared draft revised stock 
assessment reports for sea otters, polar bear and Pacific walrus in 
Alaska and made them available for public comment from March 5, 1998 to

[[Page 49133]]

June 2, 1998. During the public comment period and subsequent to it, 
the FWS consulted with the Alaska Scientific Review Group, established 
under the MMPA. Their comments and other public comments were reviewed 
and incorporated into these final reports, as appropriate. Although the 
FWS revised these reports based on additional information, the status 
of the stocks did not changed. The 1998 final stock assessment reports 
for Pacific walrus and polar bears in Alaska are now complete and 
available to the public. The finalization of the revisions on the 
Alaska sea otter stock assessment reports will not be completed until 
after a final action on the proceeding on the record requested by the 
Alaska Sea Otter Commission.

    Dated: September 4, 1998.
Robyn Thorn,
Acting Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 98-24562 Filed 9-11-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M