[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20945-20946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06293]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD781]


Whaling Provisions; Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Quotas

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

ACTION: Notice; notification of quota for bowhead whales.

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SUMMARY: NMFS notifies the public of the aboriginal subsistence whaling 
quota for bowhead whales assigned to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 
Commission (AEWC), and of limitations on the use of the quota deriving 
from regulations of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). For 
2024, the AEWC quota is 93 bowhead whales struck. This quota and other 
applicable limitations govern the harvest of bowhead whales by whaling 
captains of the AEWC.

DATES: Applicable March 26, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, 
National

[[Page 20946]]

Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 
20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mi Ae Kim, (301) 427-8365.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Aboriginal subsistence whaling in the United 
States is governed by the Whaling Convention Act (WCA) (16 U.S.C. 916 
et seq.). Under the WCA, IWC regulations shall become effective with 
respect to all persons and vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States within 90 days of notification from the IWC Secretariat 
of an amendment to the IWC Schedule (16 U.S.C. 916k). Regulations that 
implement the WCA, found at 50 CFR part 230, require the Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries to publish, at least annually, aboriginal 
subsistence whaling quotas and any other limitations on aboriginal 
subsistence whaling deriving from regulations of the IWC.
    At the 67th meeting of the IWC in 2018, the Commission set catch 
limits for aboriginal subsistence use of bowhead whales from the 
Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock for the years 2019-2025. The bowhead 
and other aboriginal subsistence whaling catch limits were based on a 
joint request by Denmark on behalf of Greenland, the Russian 
Federation, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the United States, 
accompanied by documentation concerning the needs of the Native groups.
    The IWC set a 7-year block catch limit of 392 bowhead whales 
landed. For each of the years 2019 through 2025, the number of bowhead 
whales struck may not exceed 67, with unused strikes from the three 
prior quota blocks carried forward and added to the annual strike quota 
of subsequent years, provided that no more than 50 percent of the 
annual strike limit is added to the strike quota for any one year. For 
the 2024 harvest, there are 33 strikes available for carry-forward, so 
the combined strike quota set by the IWC for 2024 is 100 (67 + 33).
    Recognizing that Alaska and Russian Natives hunt the bowhead whale, 
the United States and Russia have an understanding that the two 
countries share the bowhead whale quota. NOAA has assigned 93 strikes 
to the AEWC through its cooperative agreement with the AEWC, accounting 
for bowhead whales that may be hunted by Russian Natives. The AEWC will 
in turn allocate these strikes among the 11 villages whose cultural and 
subsistence needs have been documented, and will ensure that AEWC 
whaling captains use no more than 93 strikes.
    At its 67th Meeting, the IWC also provided for an automatic 
extension of aboriginal subsistence whaling catch limits under certain 
circumstances. Commencing in 2026, bowhead whale catch limits shall be 
extended every 6 years provided: (a) the IWC Scientific Committee 
advises in 2024, and every 6 years thereafter, that such limits will 
not harm the stock; (b) the Commission does not receive a request from 
the United States or the Russian Federation for a change in the bowhead 
whale catch limits based on need; and (c) the Commission determines 
that the United States and the Russian Federation have complied with 
the IWC's approved timeline and that the information provided 
represents a status quo continuation of the hunts.

Other Limitations

    The IWC regulations, as well as the NOAA regulation at 50 CFR 
230.4(c), forbid the taking of calves or any whale accompanied by a 
calf.
    NOAA regulations (at 50 CFR 230.4) also contain other prohibitions 
relating to aboriginal subsistence whaling, some of which are 
summarized here:
     No person, other than licensed whaling captains or crew 
under the control of those captains, shall engage in aboriginal 
subsistence whaling.
     No AEWC whaling captain shall engage in whaling that is 
not in accordance with the regulations of the IWC, NOAA, and the 
cooperative agreement between NOAA and the AEWC.
     No whaling captain shall engage in whaling without an 
adequate crew or without adequate supplies and equipment.
     No person may receive money for participating in the hunt.
     No person may sell or offer for sale whale products from 
whales taken in the hunt, except for authentic articles of Native 
handicrafts.
     Captains cannot continue to whale after the relevant quota 
is reached, after the season has been closed, or if their licenses have 
been suspended.
     No captain shall engage in whaling in a wasteful manner.

    Dated: March 20, 2024.
Alexa Cole,
Director, Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-06293 Filed 3-25-24; 8:45 am]
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