[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22125-22126]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06755]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-BM93


Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals 
Incidental to Alaska Fisheries Science Center Fisheries and Ecosystem 
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 has received a request from the NMFS Alaska Fisheries 
Science Center (AFSC) for authorization to take marine mammals 
incidental to conducting fisheries and ecosystem research in the 
Pacific and Arctic Oceans over the course of 5 years from the date of 
issuance. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of AFSC'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 AFSC's application and 
request.

DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than April 
29, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie 
Harrison, Chief, Permits and should be submitted via email to 
[email protected]. An electronic copy of AFSC's application may be 
obtained online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities.
    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 online at https://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: Kristy Jacobus, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of the AFSC's 
application may be obtained online at: https://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

    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 
authorization is provided to the public for review.
    An incidental take authorization shall be granted if NMFS finds 
that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or 
stock(s), will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the 
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where 
relevant), and if the permissible methods of taking and requirements 
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such takings 
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.
    The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt, 
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine 
mammal.
    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 November 13, 2023, NMFS received an application from the AFSC 
requesting authorization for take of marine mammals incidental to 
fisheries and ecosystem research conducted by AFSC and the 
International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) in the Pacific and 
Arctic Oceans. Following NMFS' review of the application, AFSC provided 
responses to our questions and submitted a revised application on March 
19, 2024, and the application was deemed adequate and complete on March 
20, 2024. The requested regulations would be valid for 5 years, from 
October 7, 2024 through October 6, 2029. AFSC plans to conduct 
fisheries research surveys in multiple geographic regions, including 
the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean. The IPHC operates in 
the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and waters off the U.S west coast. It 
is possible that marine mammals may interact with fishing gear (e.g., 
trawl nets, longline, gillnets) used in AFSC's and IPHC's fisheries 
research projects, resulting in injury, serious injury, or mortality. 
In addition, Level B harassment takes due to physical disturbance of 
pinnipeds at haulouts due to the presence of research vessels, gear, or 
humans is possible. Therefore, AFSC requests authorization to 
incidentally take marine mammals.
    AFSC has determined it appropriate to incorporate the fisheries 
research activities of the IPHC into their specified activity. The 
IPHC, established by a Convention between the government of Canada and 
the U.S., is an international fisheries organization mandated to 
conduct research on and manage the stock of Pacific halibut 
(Hippoglossus stenolepis) within the Convention waters of both nations. 
Although operating in U.S. waters (and, therefore, subject to the MMPA 
prohibition on ``take'' of marine mammals), the IPHC is not 
appropriately considered to be a U.S. citizen (as defined by the MMPA) 
and

[[Page 22126]]

cannot be issued an incidental take authorization. IPHC activity and 
requested take authorization is described in AFSC's application.
    The requested regulations would be the second incidental take 
regulations issued to AFSC, following regulations in place from 2019-
2024. Monitoring reports submitted by AFSC are available online at: 
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-noaa-fisheries-afsc-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 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 AFSC is 
the research arm of NMFS in U.S. waters off of Alaska.
    As noted above, the IPHC is an international organization dedicated 
to conducting research in support of increasing and maintaining 
knowledge of halibut biology and stock assessment.
    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 
AFSC and IPHC propose to administer and conduct these survey programs 
over the 5-year period.

Information Solicited

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

    Dated: March 26, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-06755 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
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