[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 241 (Thursday, December 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 90782-90783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30171]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XE783


Draft 2016 Marine Mammal Stock Assessment Reports; Correction

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

ACTION: Notice; correction.

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SUMMARY: We, NMFS, published a notice of the availability of the draft 
2016 Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional marine mammal stock 
assessment reports (SARs) in the Federal Register on October 11, 2016. 
Subsequent to soliciting public comment on the draft 2016 SARs, we 
became aware that due to technical errors in converting between 
electronic formats, the draft Atlantic SARs contained incorrect 
information in some instances. We have corrected these errors and 
through this notice we announce the availability of revised draft 
Atlantic 2016 SARs for public comment through the end of the original 
90-day comment period.

DATES: Comments must be received by January 9, 2017. If members of the 
public need additional time to review the draft Atlantic 2016 SARs, 
please contact Shannon Bettridge, Office of Protected Resources, 301-
427-8402, [email protected].

ADDRESSES: The 2016 draft SARs are available in electronic form via the 
Internet at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/sars/draft.htm.
    You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2016-0101, by any 
of the following methods:
    Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0101, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
    Mail: Send comments or requests for copies of reports to: Chief, 
Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226, Attn: Stock Assessments.
    Instructions: NMFS may not consider comments if they are sent by 
any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after 
the end of the comment period. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannon Bettridge, Office of Protected 
Resources, 301-427-8402, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Section 117 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) (16 U.S.C. 
1361

[[Page 90783]]

et seq.) requires NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to 
prepare stock assessments for each stock of marine mammals occurring in 
waters under the jurisdiction of the United States, including the 
Exclusive Economic Zone. These reports must contain information 
regarding the distribution and abundance of the stock, population 
growth rates and trends, estimates of annual human-caused mortality and 
serious injury (M/SI) from all sources, descriptions of the fisheries 
with which the stock interacts, and the status of the stock.
    The MMPA requires NMFS and FWS to review the SARs at least annually 
for strategic stocks and stocks for which significant new information 
is available, and at least once every three years for non-strategic 
stocks. The term ``strategic stock'' means a marine mammal stock: (A) 
for which the level of direct human-caused mortality exceeds the 
potential biological removal level; (B) which, based on the best 
available scientific information, is declining and is likely to be 
listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 
within the foreseeable future; or (C) which is listed as a threatened 
species or endangered species under the ESA. NMFS and the FWS are 
required to revise a SAR if the status of the stock has changed or can 
be more accurately determined. We published a notice of the 
availability of the draft 2016 Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional 
marine mammal SARs in the Federal Register on October 11, 2016 (81 FR 
70097).
    Subsequent to soliciting public comment on the draft 2016 SARs, we 
were made aware that the draft Atlantic 2016 SARs contained some 
technical errors. A problem with our electronic file formatting 
conversion introducted some erroneous numbers into the document. For 
example, in some of the tables contained in the reports (e.g., bycatch 
table in Atlantic white-sided dolphin), the ``years'' column and/or the 
``mean combined annual mortality'' column had incorrect values. In one 
case, the PBR for a stock was correct in the summary table, but 
incorrect in the text of the individual report. Most of the errors that 
we discovered in the reports involved incorrect text strike-throughs, 
where only a portion of a number was struck out, rather than the entire 
value.
    We immediately corrected the errors and posted a revised version of 
the draft Atlantic 2016 SARs on the NMFS Web site on December 1, 2016. 
With this Federal Register notice, we are notifying the public and 
soliciting comments on the revised version by January 9, 2017. If 
members of the public need additional time to review the draft Atlantic 
2016 SARs, please contact Shannon Bettridge (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).

    Dated: December 12, 2016.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-30171 Filed 12-14-16; 8:45 am]
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