[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 184 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58781-58782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24392]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA717


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Establishment of Annual Quotas for the Subsistence Harvest of 
Bowhead Whales by Alaska Natives

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

ACTION: Notice of intent; announcement of public scoping period; 
request for written comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intent to prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA), in order to assess the impacts of issuing annual quotas 
for the subsistence harvest of bowhead whales by Alaska Natives from 
2013 through 2017. Publication of this document begins the official 
scoping period that will help identify issues and alternatives to be 
considered in the EIS. The scoping process will end October 31, 2011.

ADDRESSES: To request inclusion on a mailing list of persons interested 
in the EIS, please contact Steve Davis, NMFS, 222 W 7th Avenue, Box 43, 
Anchorage, AK 99513. Comments on this action and the scoping process 
for this action must be submitted by one of the following methods to 
ensure that the comments are received, documented, and considered by 
NMFS. Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or 
individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be 
considered. Any comments on this document must be identified by [NOAA-
NMFS-2011-0225]. All comments received are a part of the public record 
and will generally be posted for public viewing on http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the 
sender will 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). Attachments to electronic comments will be 
accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file 
formats only.
     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.
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, 
first click the ``submit a comment'' icon, then enter [NOAA-NMFS-2011-
0225] in the keyword search. Locate the document you wish to comment on 
from the resulting list and click on the ``Submit a Comment'' icon on 
the right of that line. Include in the subject line the following 
document identifier: Bowhead Whale Quota EIS.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS is initiating this EIS process in order 
to comprehensively assess impacts of the subsistence harvest of Western 
Arctic bowhead whales by Alaska Natives from 2013 through 2017.

Background

    Eskimos have hunted bowhead whales for over 2,000 years as the 
whales migrate in the spring and fall

[[Page 58782]]

along the coast line of Alaska. Their traditional subsistence hunts for 
these whales have been regulated by catch limits and other limitations 
under the authority of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) since 
1977. Alaska Native subsistence hunters, from 11 northern Alaskan 
communities, take less than one percent of the stock of bowhead whales 
per year. Since 1977, the number of strikes has ranged between 14 and 
72 animals per year, depending in part on changes in IWC management 
strategy due to higher estimates of bowhead whale abundance in recent 
years, as well as hunter efficiency. The IWC sets an overall aboriginal 
subsistence catch limit for this relevant stock, based on the request 
of Contracting Governments on behalf of the aboriginal hunters. In the 
case of Alaska Eskimo and Russian Native subsistence hunts, the United 
States and the Russian Federation make a joint request for subsistence 
catch limits for bowhead whales to the IWC.
    NMFS must annually publish a notice of aboriginal subsistence whale 
hunting quotas and any other limitations on such hunting in the Federal 
Register (50 CFR 230.6). The subsistence hunt is directly managed by 
the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC), and the quotas are issued 
through annual amendments to a cooperative agreement between the AEWC 
and NOAA. In order to comprehensively assess the effects of these 
annual quotas, NMFS is proposing to set the term of this analysis to 
extend over a 5-year period, beginning in 2013.

Alternatives

    NMFS preliminarily anticipates three alternatives:
    Alternative 1 (no action): Do not grant the AEWC any annual quotas.
    Alternative 2: Grant the AEWC annual quotas amounting to 255 landed 
whales over 5 years (2013 through 2017), with an annual strike quota of 
67 bowhead whales per year, where no unused strikes are added to the 
quota for any one year.
    Alternative 3: Grant the AEWC annual quotas amounting to 255 landed 
whales over 5 years (2013 through 2017), with an annual strike quota of 
67 bowhead whales per year, where no more than 15 unused strikes are 
added to the strike quota for any one year. This is the agency's 
preferred alternative and reflects past IWC action and current 
management practices.
    NOAA prepared an EIS in 2008 that analyzed issuing annual quotas to 
the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission for a subsistence hunt on Bowhead 
whales during 2008 through 2012. That analysis concluded that the 
overall effects of human activities associated with subsistence whaling 
results in only minor impacts on the western Arctic bowhead whale 
stock. In light of the stability of the IWC subsistence harvest 
allocations and the subsistence bowhead harvests by Alaska Natives over 
the last ten years, NMFS anticipates that the new EIS can estimate 
environmental consequences for a 10- to 25-year period, subject to an 
Environmental Assessment in 2017 (and every five years thereafter) to 
determine whether any new circumstances would result in significant 
environmental impacts warranting a new EIS.
    Major issues to be addressed in this EIS include: the impact of 
subsistence removals on the Western Arctic stock of bowhead whales; the 
impacts of these harvest levels on the traditional and cultural values 
of Alaska Natives, and the cumulative effects of the action when 
considered along with climate change and past, present, and future 
actions potentially affecting bowhead whales.

Public Involvement

    We begin this NEPA process by soliciting input from the public and 
interested parties on the type of impacts to be considered in the EIS, 
the range of alternatives to be assessed, and any other pertinent 
information. Specifically, this scoping process is intended to 
accomplish the following objectives:
    1. Invite affected federal, state, and local agencies, Alaska 
Natives, and other interested persons to participate in the EIS 
process.
    2. Determine the potential significant environmental issues to be 
analyzed in the EIS.
    3. Identify and eliminate issues determined to be insignificant or 
addressed in other documents.
    4. Allocate assignments among the lead agency and cooperating 
agencies regarding preparation of the EIS, including impact analysis 
and identification of mitigation measures.
    5. Identify related environmental documents being prepared.
    6. Identify other environmental review and consultation 
requirements.

    The official scoping period is from the date of publication in the 
Federal Register of this document until October 31, 2011. Please visit 
NMFS Alaska Region web page at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov for more 
information on this EIS. NMFS estimates the draft EIS will be available 
in April 2012.

Authority

    The preparation of the EIS for the subsistence harvest of Western 
Arctic bowhead 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: September 16, 2011.
James H. Lecky,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-24392 Filed 9-21-11; 8:45 am]
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