[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 145 (Friday, July 28, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42815-42816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12126]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 053106C]


Notice of Availability of Draft Stock Assessment Reports

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

ACTION:  Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  NMFS reviewed the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional 
marine mammal stock assessment reports (SARs) in accordance with the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). SARs for marine mammals in the 
Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regions were revised according to new 
information. NMFS solicits public comments on draft 2006 SARs.

DATES:  Comments must be received by October 26, 2006.

ADDRESSES:  The 2006 draft stock assessment reports are available in 
electronic form via the Internet at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/sars/.
    Copies of the Alaska Regional SARs may be requested from Robyn 
Angliss, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way, NE 
BIN 15700, Seattle, WA 98115-0070.
    Copies of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Regional SARs may be 
requested from Gordon Waring, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 166 
Water St., Woods Hole, MA 02543.
    Copies of the Pacific Regional SARs may be requested from Tina 
Fahy, Southwest Regional Office, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, Long 
Beach, CA 90802-4213.
    Send comments or requests for copies of reports to: Chief, Marine 
Mammal Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 
20910-3226, Attn: Stock Assessments. Comments may also be sent via 
facsimile (fax) to 301-427-2516 or via e-mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Tom Eagle, Office of Protected 
Resources, 301-713-2322, ext. 105, e-mail [email protected]; Robyn 
Angliss 206- 526-4032, e-mail [email protected], regarding Alaska 
regional stock assessments; Gordon Waring, 508-495-2311, e-mail 
[email protected], regarding Atlantic regional stock assessments; 
or Tina Fahy, 562-280-4060, e-mail [email protected], regarding 
Pacific regional stock assessments.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 117 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) (16 U.S.C. 
1361 et seq.) requires NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(FWS) to prepare stock assessments for each stock of marine mammals 
occurring in waters under the jurisdiction of the United States. These 
reports must contain

[[Page 42816]]

information regarding the distribution and abundance of the stock, 
population growth rates and trends, estimates of annual human-caused 
mortality and serious injury from all sources, descriptions of the 
fisheries with which the stock interacts, and the status of the stock. 
Initial reports were completed in 1995.
    The MMPA requires NMFS and FWS to review the SARs at least annually 
for strategic stocks and stocks for which significant new information 
is available, and at least once every 3 years for non-strategic stocks. 
NMFS and the FWS are required to revise a SAR if the status of the 
stock has changed or can be more accurately determined. NMFS, in 
conjunction with the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific Scientific Review 
Groups (SRGs), reviewed the status of marine mammal stocks as required 
and revised reports in the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regions to 
incorporate new information. NMFS solicits public comments on the draft 
2006 SARs.

Alaska Reports

    In the Alaska region, 18 reports were revised, and 18 were not 
revised. Most changes were updates of abundance or mortality estimates 
and did not change the status of the stock. SARs for the Alaska harbor 
seals (Southeast Alaska, Gulf of Alaska, and Bering Sea stocks) were 
updated to include recent information on abundance, trends in 
abundance, fishery-related serious injury and mortality, and 
subsistence harvest levels. Although the abundance estimates now 
reflected in the Alaska harbor seal SARs are higher than the estimates 
in the past, this apparent increase is due to changes in analytical 
procedures and does not necessarily reflect changes in abundance. The 
best available information on Alaska harbor seal stock structure 
suggests that there are more than the current three stocks identified 
in the stock assessment reports; NMFS, in cooperation with appropriate 
Alaska Native organizations, is evaluating the new genetic information 
and anticipates making a joint recommendation regarding stock structure 
in 2006.
    Abundance estimates and Potential Biological Removal (PBR) levels 
increased for northern fur seals and Steller sea lions. The increase in 
the northern fur seal abundance was due to a recent survey of one 
rookery on Bogoslof Island, which was last assessed in 1998 and has 
grown appreciably since that time. The western Steller sea lion stock 
assessment report acknowledges that genetics differences between 
animals in western Alaska and Russia may be sufficient to support a 
designation of an Asian stock of Steller sea lions.
    The PBR level for Dall's porpoise is no longer calculated because 
the abundance estimate is more than 8 years old and, according to NMFS' 
guidelines for preparing SARs, is considered unreliable for use in 
conservation decisions. The fisheries with which this stock overlaps 
are observed regularly and have had low levels of Dall's porpoise 
serious injury or mortality over at least the past 10 years. Because 
the best available information indicates that human-related serious 
injury and mortality is likely not a major concern, the stock remains 
classified as ``not strategic''.
    The PBR level for the Cook Inlet stock of beluga whales is no 
longer calculated. The abundance is well below the maximum estimate in 
the late 1970s, and the population may be declining due to unidentified 
causes. Therefore, underlying assumption (that reducing or eliminating 
human-caused mortality would allow the population to increase) of the 
PBR approach does not appear to be valid, and NMFS cannot estimate a 
maximum number of animals that may be removed from the population while 
allowing the population to recover to its optimum sustainable 
population levels.
    The three stocks of harbor porpoise in the Alaska region (Southeast 
Alaska, Gulf of Alaska, and Bering Sea stocks) were changed from ``not 
strategic'' to ``strategic''. For each stock, abundance estimates are 
old. A number of fisheries in Alaska overlap harbor porpoise 
distribution and may take porpoise; however, few fisheries have 
observer data for estimating mortality. Furthermore, harbor porpoise 
sightings on surveys for killer whales in Southeast Alaska indicate 
fewer porpoise sightings per unit effort in recent years than in 
earlier surveys. NMFS has, therefore, labeled these three stocks of 
harbor porpoise as ``strategic'' stocks as a precautionary approach.
    The status of Pacific white-sided dolphin, North Pacific stock, was 
changed from ``strategic'' to ``not strategic''. There are no recent, 
reliable estimates of abundance and mortality/serious injury for this 
stock; however, white-sided dolphins have been seen during historical 
surveys in portions of the stock's range at densities that suggest 
sufficient numbers of dolphins to sustain the low levels of mortality 
that were previously estimated since the termination of high-seas 
driftnet fishing in 1991.

Atlantic Reports

    Sixteen reports (four strategic and 12 non-strategic) were revised 
in the Atlantic region, and 39 reports, including all reports for 
marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico, were not revised. Most updates 
were to include new abundance and mortality estimates and did not 
change the status of the affected stocks.
    Estimates of incidental mortality and serious injury for the 
northeast and mid-Atlantic bottom trawl fisheries were not completed in 
time for this draft release. SRG review of the estimates will be 
completed prior to the commencement of the Atlantic trawl take 
reduction team meeting in September 2006. Therefore, mortality 
estimates and strategic status determinations are pending for long-
finned and short-finned pilot whales, common dolphin, Risso's dolphin 
and Atlantic white-sided dolphin and will be included in the draft 2007 
reports.

Pacific Reports

    Of the 61 reports in the Pacific region, nine were revised for 
2006. All revisions were updates to abundance and PBR or mortality 
estimates, and none resulted in a change of the MMPA status (strategic 
or not strategic). The SAR for killer whales, Eastern North Pacific 
southern resident stock, was revised to indicate its listing as 
endangered under the ESA; however, the stock was already ``strategic'' 
under the MMPA due to its earlier designation as depleted.

    Dated: July 25, 2006.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E6-12126 Filed 7-27-06; 8:45 am]
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