[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 29, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15697-15698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4604]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 032206C]


Subsistence Harvest Management of Cook Inlet, Alaska Beluga 
Whales by Alaska Natives

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intent to prepare a Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), for the Subsistence Harvest 
Management of Cook Inlet, Alaska, Beluga Whales by Alaska Natives.

ADDRESSES: To request inclusion on a mailing list of persons interested 
in the SEIS, please contact Kaja Brix, Assistant Regional 
Administrator, Protected Resources Division, NMFS, Alaska Region, Attn: 
Ellen Walsh. Comments may be submitted by:
     Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668.
     Hand Delivery to the Federal Building: 709 West 9th 
Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK
     FAX: 907-586-7557
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject 
line the following

[[Page 15698]]

document identifier: CI Beluga SEIS (Email comments, with or without 
attachments, are limited to five (5) megabytes).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Mahoney or Brad Smith, NMFS 
Alaska Region, Anchorage Field Office, (907) 271-5006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is initiating this SEIS process for the 
Subsistence Harvest Management of Cook Inlet, Alaska, Beluga Whales by 
Alaska Natives. An SEIS is required when, among other reasons, there 
are substantial changes in a proposed action or there significant new 
circumstances or information relevant to the proposed action or its 
impacts. Additional Cook Inlet beluga information, including the 
Subsistence Harvest Management of Cook Inlet Beluga Whales, Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, July 2003, is available at: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/whales/beluga.htm.

Background

    The Cook Inlet beluga whale stock declined dramatically between 
1994 and 1998. Aerial survey results indicated that the 1998 abundance 
estimate of 347 Cook Inlet beluga whales represented a decline of 47 
percent from the 653 1994 estimate. In response to this significant 
decline, NMFS published a final rule to designate the Cook Inlet stock 
of belugas as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, 1972, as 
amended (MMPA) on May 31, 2000 (65 FR 34590).
    The MMPA exempts subsistence takes by Alaska Natives from marine 
mammal take prohibitions. The exemption allows Alaska Natives to use 
the Cook Inlet beluga as traditional food and Native handicrafts.
    Cook Inlet beluga harvests have been severely restricted (0-2 
whales annually) since 1999, due to both the voluntary efforts of the 
Native hunters and federal law requiring co-management agreements to 
authorize harvests (Public Law No. 106-31 (May 21, 1999, and Public Law 
No. 106-553 (December 21, 2000)). Since 2000, NMFS has entered into co-
management agreements with an Alaska Native organization for the 
subsistence harvest of Cook Inlet belugas. NMFS has worked 
cooperatively with beluga hunters to recover the stock, while 
recognizing traditional values of continuing a harvest.
    Following the depletion determination and pursuant to the MMPA, 
NMFS proposed regulations limiting the harvest of belugas in Cook Inlet 
(65 FR 59164, October 4, 2000). An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) 
convened a hearing on the proposed regulations in December 2000. The 
ALJ issued a recommended decision to the Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries (AA) that allowed a harvest of six whales from 2001 through 
2004 (67 FR 30646, May 7, 2002). In July 2003, a Final EIS was released 
with interim harvest regulations for the period 2001-2004 (69 FR 17973, 
April 6, 2004). This EIS, which NMFS intends to supplement, analyzed 
the impacts of various alternatives, including a preferred alternative. 
The preferred alternative adopted the ALJ's recommended decision 
calling for harvest of six whales from 2001 through 2004 and for 
determining harvest for 2005 and beyond after NMFS made further 
abundance estimates.
    Because the interim harvest regulations authorized harvest only 
through 2004, the ALJ conducted a second hearing in August 2004 to 
receive evidence on a harvest plan for 2005 until recovery of the Cook 
Inlet beluga. The ALJ presiding in the August 2004 hearings submitted 
his recommended decision on the future harvest plan for Cook Inlet 
belugas to the AA on November 8, 2005. As required by regulations, NMFS 
published notice of this recommended decision (71 FR 8268, February 16, 
2006) and solicited comments for a 20-day period that ended on March 8, 
2006.

Alternatives

    After preliminary review of recent annual abundance estimates and 
the November 8, 2005, ALJ's recommended decision, NMFS anticipates four 
alternative harvest management regimes:
    Alternative 1: no action alternative;
    Alternative 2: maximizing the recovery of the Cook Inlet beluga 
stock by minimizing or allowing no harvest until the stock had 
recovered to optimum sustainable population levels;
    Alterative 3: maximizing the short term opportunity for subsistence 
harvests and prolonging the recovery of the stock; and
    Alternative 4: the November 8, 2005, harvest plan recommended by 
the ALJ, allowing an intermediate level of harvest that would provide 
some subsistence use and promote recovery of the stock in a longer time 
frame than alternative (1), but shorter time frame than alternative 
(2).
    Major SEIS issues will include: subsistence removal impacts on this 
stock; regulated harvest impacts on the traditional and cultural values 
of Alaska Natives and the social and economic impacts of various 
population levels of the CI beluga stock of whales.

Public Involvement

    Comments on this SEIS process should be directed to NMFS (see 
ADDRESSES). All comments and material received, including names and 
addresses, will become part of the administrative record and may be 
released to the public. NMFS will ask for additional public comments 
once the draft SEIS is prepared and available.
    Please visit NMFS Alaska Region web page at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov for more information on this SEIS. NMFS estimates the 
draft SEIS will be available in September 2006.

Authority

    The preparation of the SEIS for the Subsistence Harvest Management 
of Cook Inlet, Alaska, Beluga Whales by Alaska Natives will be 
conducted under the authority and in accordance with the requirements 
of NEPA, Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR 1500-
1508), other applicable Federal laws and regulations, and policies and 
procedures of NMFS for compliance with those regulations.

    Dated: March 23, 2006.
Angela Somma,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-4604 Filed 3-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S