[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 141 (Friday, July 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43985-43986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18583]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XX37


Endangered and Threatened Species; Recovery Plan for the Sei 
Whale

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the 
availability for public review of the draft Recovery Plan (Plan) for 
the sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis). NMFS is soliciting review and 
comment from the public and all interested parties on the Plan, and 
will consider all substantive comments received during the review 
period before submitting the Plan for final approval.

DATES: Comments on the draft Plan must be received by close of business 
on September 6, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by [0648- XX37], by any 
of the following methods:
    Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
    Mail: Angela Somma, National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of 
Protected Resources, Endangered Species Division, 1325 East-West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record 
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without 
change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, 
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information.
    NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required 
fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to 
electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF 
file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannon Bettridge (301-427-8437), e-
mail [email protected] or Larissa Plants (301-427-8471), e-
mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Recovery plans describe actions beneficial to the conservation and 
recovery of species listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Section 4(f)(1) of the ESA 
requires that recovery plans incorporate: (1) Objective, measurable 
criteria which, when met, would result in a determination that the 
species is no longer threatened or endangered; (2) site-specific 
management actions necessary to achieve the Plan's goals; and (3) 
estimates of the time required and costs to implement recovery actions. 
The ESA requires the development of recovery plans for each listed 
species unless such a plan would not promote its recovery.
    The sei whale has been listed as ``endangered'' under the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA) since its passage in 1973. Sei whales are 
widely distributed in the world's oceans and most populations were 
reduced, some of them considerably, by extensive commercial whaling in 
the 1950s through the early 1970s. They were hunted by modern whalers 
primarily after the preferred larger (or more easily taken) baleen 
whale species had been seriously depleted, including the right 
(Eubalaena spp.), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae), gray (Eschrichtius 
robustus), blue (Balaenoptera musculus), and fin (Balaenoptera 
physalus) whales. International protection for this species only began 
in the 1970s, but the taking of sei whales continued at relatively low 
levels by Icelandic and Japanese operations. Of the commercially 
exploited ``great whales,'' the sei whale is one of the least well 
studied, and the current status of most sei whale stocks is poorly 
known. Sei whales have a global distribution and can be found in the 
North Atlantic Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, and Southern Hemisphere. 
Currently, the population structure of sei whales has not been 
adequately defined.
    Because the current status of sei whales is unknown, the primary 
purpose of the draft Recovery Plan is to provide a research strategy to 
obtain data necessary to estimate population abundance, trends, and 
structure and to identify factors that may be limiting sei whale 
recovery. The draft Recovery Plan incorporates an adaptive management 
strategy that divides recovery actions into three tiers. Tier I 
includes: (1) Continued international regulation of whaling; (2) 
determining population size, trends, and structure using opportunistic 
data collection in conjunction with passive acoustic monitoring, if 
determined to be feasible; and (3) continued stranding response and 
associated data collection. After ten years of conducting Tier I 
actions, NMFS expects to evaluate this approach to determine if the 
approach is providing sufficient demographic data to assess recovery 
(or if more efficient data collection methods become available). If the 
Tier I method proves to be sufficient, NMFS will continue Tier I data 
collection activities. If Tier I data collection methods are 
insufficient, NMFS will consider Tier II actions, building upon 
research conducted during Tier I. Tier II adds more extensive directed 
demographic survey research and actions that are dependent upon 
acquiring comprehensive information (e.g., assessment of threats 
currently ranked as unknown). Tier III recovery actions depend upon 
data collected in Tiers I and/or II. When sufficient data are obtained, 
Tier III recovery activities will be undertaken as feasible. Costs have 
been estimated for Tier I recovery actions only.
    Criteria for the reclassification of the sei whale are included in 
the final Recovery Plan. In summary, the sei whale may be reclassified 
from endangered to threatened when all of the following have been met: 
(1) Given current and projected threats and environmental conditions, 
the sei whale population in each ocean basin in which it occurs 
(Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Southern Hemisphere) satisfies the 
risk analysis standard for threatened status (has no more than a 1 
percent chance of extinction in 100 years) and the global population 
has at least 1,500 mature, reproductive individuals (consisting of at 
least 250 mature females and at least 250 mature males in each ocean 
basin). Mature is defined as the number of individuals known, 
estimated, or inferred to be capable of reproduction. Any factors or 
circumstances that are thought to substantially contribute to a real 
risk of extinction that cannot be incorporated

[[Page 43986]]

into a Population Viability Analysis will be carefully considered 
before downlisting takes place; and (2) none of the known threats to 
sei whales are known to limit the continued growth of populations. 
Specifically, the factors in 4(a)(l) of the ESA are being or have been 
addressed: (A) The present or threatened destruction, modification or 
curtailment of a species' habitat or range; (B) overutilization for 
commercial, recreational or educational purposes; (C) disease or 
predation; (D) the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; and 
(E) other natural or manmade factors. The population will be considered 
for delisting if all of the following can be met: (1) Given current and 
projected threats and environmental conditions, the total sei whale 
population in each ocean basin in which it occurs (Atlantic Ocean, 
Pacific Ocean, and Southern Hemisphere) satisfies the risk analysis 
standard for unlisted status (has less than a 10 percent probability of 
becoming endangered (has more than a 1 percent chance of extinction in 
100 years) in 20 years). Any factors or circumstances that are thought 
to substantially contribute to a real risk of extinction that cannot be 
incorporated into a Population Viability Analysis will be carefully 
considered before delisting takes place; and (2) none of the known 
threats to sei whales are known to limit the continued growth of 
populations. Specifically, the factors in 4(a)(l) of the ESA are being 
or have been addressed.
    The time and cost to recovery is not predictable with the current 
information and global listing of sei whales. The difficulty in 
gathering data on sei whales and uncertainty about the success of 
passive acoustic monitoring in fulfilling data needs make it impossible 
to give a timeframe to recovery. While we are comfortable estimating 
costs for the first 10 years of plan implementation for Tier I actions 
($11.872 million), any projections beyond this date are likely to be 
imprecise and unrealistic until we can determine the success of passive 
acoustic monitoring of sei whales to obtain demographic data. The 
anticipated date for removal from the endangered species list also 
cannot be determined because of the uncertainty in the success of 
passive acoustic monitoring of sei whales. The effectiveness of many 
management activities is not known on a global level. Currently it is 
impossible to predict when such measures will bring the species to a 
point at which the protections provided by the ESA are no longer 
warranted, or even determine whether the species has recovered enough 
to be downlisted or delisted. In the future, as more information is 
obtained it should be possible to make more informative projections 
about the time to recovery, and its expense.
    NMFS will consider all substantive comments and information 
presented during the public comment period in the course of finalizing 
this Plan. NMFS concludes that the Draft Recovery Plan meets the 
requirements of the ESA.

    Authority:  16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.

    Dated: July 18, 2011.
Therese Conant,
Deputy Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-18583 Filed 7-21-11; 8:45 am]
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