[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 39 (Tuesday, February 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12662-12663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04103]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XC797]


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 Letter of Authorization; 
request for comments and information.

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SUMMARY: NMFS' Office of Protected Resources (OPR) has received a 
request from the NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) for 
authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to 
conducting fisheries research, over the course of 5 years from the date 
of issuance. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act (MMPA), OPR is announcing receipt of the NWFSC's request 
for the development and implementation of regulations governing the 
incidental taking of marine mammals. OPR invites the public to provide 
information, suggestions, and comments on the NWFSC's application and 
request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than March 
30, 2023.

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: OPR 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. All comments 
received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted 
online at www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities 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. Electronic copies of the application 
and supporting documents, as well as a list of the references cited in 
this document, may be obtained online at: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities. In case of problems accessing these 
documents, please call the contact listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The MMPA prohibits the ``take'' of marine mammals, with certain 
exceptions. Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 
et seq.) direct the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated to NMFS) 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) within a specified 
geographical region if certain findings are made and either regulations 
are issued or, if the taking is limited to harassment, a notice of a 
proposed incidental take authorization may be provided to the public 
for review.
    Authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS finds 
that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or 
stock(s) and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the 
availability of the species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses 
(where relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe the permissible methods 
of taking and other ``means of effecting the least practicable adverse 
impact'' on the affected species or stocks and their habitat, paying 
particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar 
significance, and on the availability of the species or stocks for 
taking for certain subsistence uses (referred to in shorthand as 
``mitigation''); and requirements

[[Page 12663]]

pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of the takings 
are set forth.

Summary of Request

    On August 3, 2022, we received an application from NWFSC requesting 
authorization for take of marine mammals incidental to fisheries 
research conducted by NWFSC. The requested regulations would be valid 
for 5 years, from August 29, 2023, through August 28, 2028. The NWFSC 
plans to NWFSC plans to continue fisheries and ecosystem research in 
three defined research areas including the California Current Research 
Area, the Puget Sound Research Area, and the Lower Columbia River 
Research Area, defined as the estuarine and tidally influenced waters 
of the lower Columbia River below the Bonneville Dam. It is possible 
that marine mammals may interact with fishing gear (e.g., trawl nets, 
longlines) used in NWFSC's research, resulting in injury, serious 
injury, or mortality. Because the specified activities have the 
potential to take marine mammals present within these action areas, 
NWFSC requests authorization to take multiple species of marine mammal 
that may occur in these areas.
    The requested regulations would be the second incidental take 
regulations issued to NWFSC, following regulations in place from 2018-
2023. NWFSC has complied with all requirements of the previously issued 
Letters of Authorization and has not exceeded the authorized take 
numbers. Monitoring reports submitted by NWFSC are available online at: 
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-noaa-fisheries-nwfsc-fisheries-and-ecosystem-research.

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 finfish 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 NWFSC is 
the research arm of NMFS in the Northwest Region. The NWFSC conducts 
research and provides scientific advice to manage fisheries and 
conserve protected species in three aforementioned geographic research 
areas. The NWFSC provides scientific information to support the Pacific 
Fishery Management Council and numerous other domestic and 
international fisheries management organizations.
    The NWFSC collects a wide array of information necessary to 
evaluate the status of exploited fishery resources and the marine 
environment. NWFSC scientists conduct fishery-independent research 
onboard NOAA-owned and operated vessels or on chartered vessels. A few 
surveys are conducted onboard commercial fishing vessels, but the NWFSC 
designs and executes the studies and funds vessel time. The gear types 
used fall into several categories: pelagic trawl gear used at various 
levels in the water column, pelagic longlines with multiple hooks, 
seine nets, and other gear. Of research gear used by NWFSC, only 
pelagic trawl, hook and line gear (including longline gears), and seine 
nets are likely to interact with marine mammals.

Information Solicited

    Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and 
comments concerning the NWFSC'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 NWFSC, if appropriate.

    Dated: February 23, 2023.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-04103 Filed 2-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P