[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54905-54906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21718]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R7-ES-2013-N145; 70120-1337-C4]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Southwest Alaska
Distinct Population Segment of the Northern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris
kenyoni): Availability of Recovery Plan
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of document availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of our recovery plan for the southwest Alaska Distinct
Population Segment (DPS) of the northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris
kenyoni), listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (Act). Our recovery plan describes the status, current
management, recovery objectives and criteria, and specific actions
needed to enable us to delist the southwest Alaska DPS of the northern
sea otter.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the recovery plan are available by request from
the Service, Marine Mammals Management Office, 1011 East Tudor Road,
MS-341, Anchorage, AK 99503; telephone (907) 786-3800; facsimile (907)
786-3816. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD),
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339. An
electronic copy of the draft recovery plan is also available at: http://alaska.fws.gov/fisheries/mmm/seaotters/recovery.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frances Mann, Sea Otter Program Lead,
at the above address or telephone number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Previous Federal Action
We listed the southwest Alaska DPS of the northern sea otter as
threatened on August 9, 2005 (70 FR 46366). For a description of the
taxonomy, distribution, status, breeding biology and habitat, and a
summary of factors affecting the species, please see the final listing
rule. We designated critical habitat for this DPS on October 8, 2009
(74 FR 51988). On October 12, 2010, the Service published in the
Federal Register a notice of the availability of the draft recovery
plan for the southwest Alaska DPS of the northern sea otter (75 FR
62562) and requested comments on the draft recovery plan. We received
six comments in response. On April 26, 2013, we announced our active
status review for the southwest Alaska DPS of the northern sea otter in
the Federal Register and invited comments and new information to assist
us in our review (78 FR 24767).
The Service carefully considered the comments, recommendations, and
suggestions provided by the State of Alaska, the Marine Mammal
Commission, nongovernmental organizations, and others on the draft
recovery plan. We revised the recovery plan, as appropriate, to address
the comments, recommendations, and suggestions received.
Background
The southwest Alaska DPS of the northern sea otter's range extends
from Attu Island at the western end of the
[[Page 54906]]
Near Islands in the Aleutians, east to Kamishak Bay on the western side
of lower Cook Inlet, and includes waters adjacent to the Aleutian
Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, the Kodiak Archipelago, and the Barren
Islands (see Figure 3 of the Proposed Listing Rule; 69 FR 6605;
February 11, 2004). Within this range, sea otters generally occur in
nearshore, shallow waters less than 100 meters (328 feet) in depth.
This population experienced a rapid decline in abundance of more than
50 percent since the late 1980s. At the time of our 2005 final listing
rule, the DPS consisted of approximately 42,000 sea otters.
Recovery of endangered or threatened animals and plants to the
point where they are again secure, self-sustaining members of their
ecosystems is a primary goal of our endangered species program. The Act
requires us to develop recovery plans for listed species, unless such a
plan would not promote the conservation of a particular species. We
prepare recovery plans for most listed species native to the United
States. Recovery plans describe actions necessary for the conservation
and survival of the species, establish criteria for reclassifying or
delisting listed species, and estimate time and cost for implementing
needed recovery measures. Section 4(f) of the Act requires us to
provide public notice and an opportunity for public review and comment
during recovery plan development.
In March 2006, the Regional Director for the Alaska Region of the
Service formed a recovery team to serve in an advisory capacity to
develop a draft recovery plan for the southwest Alaska DPS of the
northern sea otter.
Current Range and Threats
The current range of the southwest Alaska DPS of the northern sea
otter extends from west to east across more than 2400 kilometers
(approximately 1,500 miles) of shoreline. The magnitude of the
population decline has varied over the range. In some areas, numbers
have declined by more than an order of magnitude, while in other areas
no decline has been detected. To address such differences, this
recovery plan identifies five management units (MUs) within the DPS:
(1) Western Aleutian Islands; (2) Eastern Aleutian Islands; (3) South
Alaska Peninsula; (4) Bristol Bay; and (5) Kodiak Archipelago, Kamishak
Bay, and Alaska Peninsula.
The cause of the overall decline is not known with certainty, but
the weight of evidence points to increased predation, most likely by
the killer whale, as the most likely cause. Predation is therefore
considered a threat to the recovery of this DPS, but other threats,
including infectious disease, biotoxins, contaminants, oil spills, food
limitation, disturbance, bycatch in fisheries, subsistence harvest,
loss of habitat, and illegal take, are also considered in this recovery
plan. Threats are summarized in general, and their relative importance
is assessed for each of the five MUs. Most threats are assessed to be
of low importance to recovery of the DPS; the threats judged to be most
important are predation (moderate to high importance) and oil spills
(low to moderate importance). Threats from subsistence harvest, illegal
take, and infectious disease are assessed to be of moderate importance
in the Kodiak, Kamishak, and Alaska Peninsula MU, but of low importance
elsewhere.
Goals of Recovery Plan
The goal of the recovery plan is to control or reduce threats to
the southwest Alaska DPS of the northern sea otter to the extent that
this DPS no longer requires the protections afforded by the Act and
therefore can be delisted. To achieve this goal, the recovery plan
identifies three objectives: (1) Achieve and maintain a self-sustaining
population of sea otters in each MU; (2) maintain enough sea otters to
ensure that they are playing a functional role in their nearshore
ecosystem; and (3) mitigate threats sufficiently to ensure persistence
of sea otters. Each of these objectives includes objective, measurable
criteria to determine if the objective has been met; these are known as
``delisting criteria.'' They require that, in order for the DPS to be
removed from the Endangered and Threatened Species List, at least three
of the five MUs must have met the delisting criteria. The plan also
contains criteria to determine if the DPS should be considered for
reclassification as endangered; these are known as ``uplisting
criteria.'' Delisting should not be considered if any MU meets the
criteria specified for uplisting to endangered.
Site-specific management actions to achieve recovery and delisting
of the DPS are specified in the recovery action outline and narrative.
As demographic characteristics of the population constitute one of the
three types of delisting criteria, population monitoring and population
modeling are high priorities. Monitoring the status of the kelp forest
ecosystem in the Western Aleutian and Eastern Aleutian management units
is also a high priority, as results from such monitoring will be needed
to evaluate the ecosystem-based delisting criteria. Other high-priority
actions include identifying characteristics of sea otter habitat, and
ensuring that adequate oil spill response capability exists in
southwest Alaska. As predation is considered to be the most important
threat to recovery, additional research on that topic is also a high
priority. The recovery implementation schedule provides details
regarding the timing, costs, and agencies or entities responsible for
implementing each recovery action necessary to achieve the recovery
plan's objectives and goal.
We welcome continuing input on this recovery plan, and we will
consider information received on an ongoing basis to inform the
implementation of recovery activities and any future updates to the
recovery plan.
Authority: The authority for this action is section 4(f) of the
Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).
Dated: August 29, 2013.
Geoffrey L. Haskett,
Regional Director, Alaska Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-21718 Filed 9-5-13; 8:45 am]
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