[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 122 (Friday, June 26, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30527-30528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15200]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XP71


Notice of Availability of Draft Stock Assessment Reports

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

ACTION:  Notice; 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. SARs for marine mammals in the Alaska, 
Atlantic, and Pacific regions were revised according to new 
information. NMFS solicits public comments on draft 2009 SARs.

DATES:  Comments must be received by September 24, 2009.

ADDRESSES:  The 2009 draft stock assessment reports and summaries of 
them 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 Jim 
Carretta, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 8604 La Jolla Shores 
Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037-1508.
    Send comments or requests for copies of reports to: Chief, Marine 
Mammal and Sea Turtle 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 301-427-2522 or via email 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 Jim Carretta, 858-546-7171, 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 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

[[Page 30528]]

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 
2009 SARs.

Alaska Reports

    Twenty-three reports (14 strategic stocks and 9 non-strategic 
stocks) were revised, and 13 reports were not revised. Most revisions 
included updates of abundance and/or mortality estimates; there were no 
changes in the status of the affected stocks.
    The most recent 5-year period of incidental mortality and serious 
injury estimates for Federal fisheries in Alaska is 2002-2006. Although 
observer data from these fisheries are available for more recent years, 
analysis of observer data from 2007 and 2008 has not been completed due 
to changes in staffing and in the structure of the database. The 2007 
and 2008 fishery mortality data are currently being analyzed, and these 
results will be incorporated in the 2010 SARs.
    Results from a collaborative international study on humpback whales 
have been incorporated into the reports for the Central and Western 
North Pacific stocks. These results produced new abundance estimates 
for these stocks and allowed PBR for both stocks to be changed from 
undetermined to calculated values. Both stocks remain strategic stocks 
because they are populations of an endangered species.

Atlantic Reports

    Fifty-two new or updated reports (16 strategic and 36 non-
strategic) are included among 2009 Atlantic regional SARs. Nineteen 
reports were not revised. New reports include four stock-specific 
reports for beaked whales and nine new reports of bay, sound, and 
estuary stocks of bottlenose dolphins along the Atlantic coast. The 39 
revised reports included updates of abundance or mortality estimates, 
strandings, and status of these stocks was unchanged. However, 
Potential Biological Removal (PBR) estimates for three stocks of 
dolphins (bottlenose, Atlantic spotted, and rough-toothed) in the Gulf 
of Mexico were changed to ``undetermined'' because the abundance data 
supporting these estimates are outdated (more than 8 years old).
    The beaked whale reports were previously published as a combined 
report (Mesoplodon sp.) because most beaked whale species cannot be 
distinguished from one another during abundance surveys. Each of the 
new reports and the report for Cuvier's beaked whale contain the same 
numbers for abundance (3,513), minimum population estimate (2,154), and 
PBR (17) and were included in the 2008 SAR for Mesoplodon sp. 
Similarly, a single observed serious injury of an unidentified beaked 
whale incidental to a long-line fishery is included in all reports; 
three of the beaked whale species (Blainville's, Sowerby's, and True's) 
have additional human-caused mortality based upon stranded animals that 
were identified to species.
    Bottlenose dolphins within bays, sounds, and estuaries along the 
Atlantic coast were not included in previous stock assessment reports. 
Although these stock identities have been proposed, there is sufficient 
mixing of individuals from coastal and bay stocks that abundance and 
mortality/serious injury estimates for all nine of the new bottlenose 
dolphin stocks are unknown.

Pacific Reports

    In the Pacific region, 13 reports were updated in 2009, including 8 
strategic stocks and 5 non-strategic stocks; 50 SARs were not revised. 
Most changes were updates of abundance or mortality estimates and did 
not result in a change of status of any stock.
    A new SAR for humpback whales in American Samoa waters, which is 
strategic because all humpback whales are listed under the Endangered 
Species Act, is also included. The assessment for Northern Oregon/
Washington Coast stock of harbor porpoise includes a name change 
(``Oregon'' is appended to ``Northern Oregon'') to reflect recent stock 
boundary changes. Changes in abundance estimates for the two stocks of 
harbor porpoise that occur in Oregon waters are the result of these 
boundary changes and do not reflect biological changes in the 
populations.

    Dated: June 19, 2009.
Helen M. Golde,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-15200 Filed 6-25-09; 8:45 am]
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