[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23677-23678]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-09352]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE080


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.

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SUMMARY: NMFS' Office of Protected Resources has received a request 
from the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) 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 SEFSC'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 SEFSC's 
application and request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than May 23, 
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 SEFSC's application may be obtained by 
visiting the Internet at: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/research.htm. The SEFSC 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

[[Page 23678]]

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 April 6, 2016, NMFS received an adequate and complete 
application from the SEFSC requesting authorization for take of marine 
mammals incidental to fisheries research conducted by the SEFSC. The 
requested regulations would be valid for five years from the date of 
issuance. The SEFSC plans to conduct fisheries research surveys in 
multiple geographic regions within the Atlantic Ocean, including the 
Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. It is possible that marine mammals 
may interact with fishing gear (e.g., trawls nets, longlines) used in 
SEFSC's fisheries research projects, resulting in injury, serious 
injury, or mortality. In addition, the SEFSC 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 SEFSC 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 
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 SEFSC is 
the research arm of NMFS in the southeast U.S., including the 
Caribbean.
    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 
SEFSC 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 SEFSC'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 SEFSC, if appropriate.

    Dated: April 19, 2016.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-09352 Filed 4-21-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P