[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 234 (Monday, December 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75997-75998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30760]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE341


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Fisheries Research

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for Letters of Authorization; 
request for comments and information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS' Office of Protected Resources has received a request 
from the NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) for 
authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to 
conducting fisheries research, over the course of five years from the 
date of issuance. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine 
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of the PIFSC's 
request for the development and implementation of regulations governing 
the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to 
provide information, suggestions, and comments on the PIFSC's 
application and request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than January 
6, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie 
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should 
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and 
electronic comments should be sent to [email protected].
    Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any 
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the 
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including 
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments 
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or 
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted to the Internet at 
www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/research.htm without change. 
All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily 
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit 
confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected 
information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Laws, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability

    An electronic copy of the PIFSC's application may be obtained by 
visiting the Internet at: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/research.htm. The PIFSC is concurrently releasing a draft Environmental 
Assessment, prepared pursuant to requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act, for the conduct of their fisheries research. 
A copy of the draft EA, which would also support our proposed 
rulemaking under the MMPA, is available at the same Web site.

Background

    Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs 
the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to allow, upon request, the 
incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine 
mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than 
commercial fishing) if certain findings are made and regulations are 
issued.
    Incidental taking shall be allowed if NMFS finds that the taking 
will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) affected and 
will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the 
species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses, and if the 
permissible methods of taking and requirements pertaining to the 
mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such taking are set forth.
    NMFS has defined ``negligible impact'' in 50 CFR 216.103 as ``an 
impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably 
expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the 
species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or 
survival.''
    Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, the 
MMPA defines ``harassment'' as: ``any act of pursuit, torment, or 
annoyance which (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or 
marine mammal stock in the wild [Level A harassment]; or (ii) has the 
potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild 
by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not 
limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or 
sheltering [Level B harassment].''

Summary of Request

    On November 30, 2015, NMFS received an adequate and complete 
application from the PIFSC requesting authorization for take of marine 
mammals incidental to fisheries research conducted by the PIFSC. The 
requested regulations would be valid for five years from the date of 
issuance. The PIFSC plans to conduct fisheries research surveys in 
multiple geographic regions within the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, 
Samoa, the Marianas, and the western and central Pacific broadly 
(including the Pacific Remote Island Area). It is possible that marine 
mammals may interact with fishing gear (e.g., trawls nets, longlines) 
used in PIFSC's fisheries research projects, resulting in injury, 
serious injury, or mortality. In addition, the PIFSC operates active 
acoustic devices that have the potential to disturb marine mammals. 
Because the specified activities have the potential to take marine 
mammals present within these action areas, the PIFSC requests 
authorization to take multiple species of marine mammal that may occur 
in these areas.

Specified Activities

    The Federal Government has a responsibility to conserve and protect 
living marine resources in U.S. federal waters and has also entered 
into a number of international agreements and treaties related to the 
management of living marine resources in international waters outside 
the United States. NOAA has the primary responsibility for managing 
marine fin and shellfish species and their habitats, with that

[[Page 75998]]

responsibility delegated within NOAA to NMFS.
    In order to direct and coordinate the collection of scientific 
information needed to make informed management decisions, Congress 
created six Regional Fisheries Science Centers, each a distinct 
organizational entity and the scientific focal point within NMFS for 
region-based federal fisheries-related research. This research is aimed 
at monitoring fish stock recruitment, abundance, survival and 
biological rates, geographic distribution of species and stocks, 
ecosystem process changes, and marine ecological research. The PIFSC is 
the research arm of NMFS in the Pacific Islands.
    Research is aimed at monitoring fish stock recruitment, survival 
and biological rates, abundance and geographic distribution of species 
and stocks, and providing other scientific information needed to 
improve our understanding of complex marine ecological processes. The 
PIFSC proposes to administer and conduct these survey programs over the 
five-year period.

Information Solicited

    Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and 
comments concerning the PIFSC's request (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will 
consider all information, suggestions, and comments related to the 
request during the development of proposed regulations governing the 
incidental taking of marine mammals by the PIFSC, if appropriate.

    Dated: December 2, 2015.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-30760 Filed 12-4-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P