[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38671-38672]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17173]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XF600


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Establishment of Annual Catch Limits 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 catch 
limits for the subsistence harvest of bowhead whales by Alaska Natives 
from 2019 onward. Publication of this document begins the official 
scoping period that will help identify issues and alternatives to be 
considered in the EIS.

DATES: Written comments on this scoping process must be received no 
later than September 14, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments on this scoping notice, by including 
NOAA-NMFS-2017-0098 by either of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017-0098. Click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Carolyn Doherty, Office of International Affairs and 
Seafood Inspection, NOAA Fisheries, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.
    Instructions: NMFS may not consider comments if they are sent by 
any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after 
the comment period ends at 11:59 p.m. eastern time on the date of 
comment period closure. All comments received are a part of the public 
record and will generally be posted to www.regulations.gov without 
change. For posted comments, all personal identifying information 
(e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business information, or 
otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender is 
publicly accessible. 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, Excel, 
WordPerfect, or Adobe portable document file (PDF) formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carolyn Doherty, Office of 
International Affairs and Seafood Inspection, NOAA Fisheries (phone: 
301-427-8385 or email: [email protected]).

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 2019 onward.

Background

    Alaska Natives have hunted bowhead whales for over 2,000 years as 
the whales migrate in the spring and fall along the coast 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 
1 percent of the stock of bowhead whales per year. Since 1977, the 
number of whales struck by harpoons has ranged between 14 and 72 
animals per year, depending in part on changes in IWC management 
strategy due to higher estimates of both bowhead whale abundance and 
increased hunter efficiency in recent years. The IWC sets an overall 
aboriginal subsistence catch limit for this stock, based on the request 
of IWC member countries on behalf of the aboriginal hunters. The IWC's 
catch limit for bowhead whales includes a limit on the number of landed 
whales and a limit on the number of whales that may be struck. In the 
case of Alaska and Russian Native subsistence hunts, the United States 
and the Russian Federation make a joint request to the IWC for 
subsistence catch limits for bowhead whales.
    NMFS must annually publish a notice of aboriginal subsistence whale 
hunting catch limits 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 catch 
limits are issued through annual amendments to a cooperative agreement 
between the AEWC and NOAA, consistent with the mandates codified in the 
Whaling Convention Act, 16 U.S.C. 916-916l.
    In order to comprehensively assess the effects of these annual 
removals, this proposed action would extend from 2019 onward, subject 
to IWC-set catch

[[Page 38672]]

limits. IWC-set catch limits are, in turn, based on IWC Scientific 
Committee advice on the sustainability of proposed catch limits using a 
population model, referred to as a Strike Limit Algorithm. The Strike 
Limit Algorithm used by the IWC is specific to this population of 
bowhead whales and is the IWC's formula for calculating sustainable 
aboriginal subsistence whaling removal levels, based on the size and 
productivity of a whale population, in order to satisfy subsistence 
need. The Strike Limit Algorithm also allows for an inter-annual 
variation of strikes up to 50 percent of the annual strike limit in 
order to provide flexibility for the hunt while meeting the 
Commission's conservation objectives.

Alternatives

    NMFS preliminarily anticipates four alternatives:
    Alternative 1 (no action): Do not grant the AEWC a catch limit.
    Alternative 2: Grant the AEWC an annual strike limit of 67 bowhead 
whales, not to exceed a total of 336 landed whales over any 6-year 
period, with no unused strikes from previous years added to a 
subsequent annual limit.
    Alternative 3: Grant the AEWC an annual strike limit of 67 bowhead 
whales, not to exceed a total of 336 landed whales over any 6-year 
period, with unused strikes from previous years carried forward and 
added to the annual strike limit of subsequent years (subject to 
limits), provided that no more than 15 additional strikes are added to 
any one year's allocation of strikes. This alternative would maintain 
the status quo for any six-year period with respect to management of 
the hunt.
    Alternative 4: Grant the AEWC an annual strike limit of 67 bowhead 
whales, not to exceed a total take of 336 landed whales over any 6-year 
period, with unused strikes from previous years carried forward and 
added to the annual strike quota of subsequent years (subject to 
limits), provided that no more than 50 percent of the annual strike 
limit is added for any one year. This would maintain the status quo for 
any 6-year period with respect to management of the hunt for landed 
whales and employ the Commission's 50 percent carryover principle.
    NOAA prepared an EIS in 2013 that analyzed issuing annual strike 
limits to the AEWC for a subsistence hunt on bowhead whales from 2013 
through 2018. 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, the 2013 EIS estimated 
environmental consequences for a 25- or 30-year period, recognizing 
that every 5 or 6 years, when new catch limits are considered by the 
IWC, NMFS would prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) to determine 
whether any new circumstances would result in significant environmental 
impacts warranting a new EIS.
    NMFS decided to prepare an EIS rather than an EA in order to assess 
the impacts of issuing annual quotas for the subsistence hunt by Alaska 
Natives from 2019 onward. This decision was not based on any new 
determination that significant effects occur as a result of the bowhead 
subsistence hunt, but rather to take advantage of the greater 
transparency and public involvement in decision-making afforded through 
an EIS process.
    Major issues to be addressed in this EIS include: The impact of 
subsistence removal of bowhead whales from 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 environmental conditions and 
past, present, and future actions potentially affecting bowhead whales.

Public Comment

    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 August 15, 2017, until 
September 14, 2017. Please visit the NOAA Fisheries' Alaska Regional 
Office's Web page at https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/pr/whales-bowhead 
for more information on this EIS. NMFS estimates the draft EIS for 2019 
onward will be available in May 2018.

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 parts 1500-1508), other 
applicable Federal laws and regulations, and policies and procedures of 
NMFS for compliance with those regulations.

    Dated: August 9, 2017.
John Henderschedt,
Director, Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-17173 Filed 8-14-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P