[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 142 (Monday, July 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35509-35511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14148]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF044]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in
the Gulf of America (Formerly Gulf of Mexico)
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of letter of authorization.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as
amended, its implementing regulations, and NMFS' MMPA regulations for
taking marine mammals incidental to geophysical surveys related to oil
and gas activities in the Gulf of America, originally published as
``Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to
Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico,'' notification is hereby
given that NMFS has modified the Letter of Authorization (LOA) issued
to Fugro USA Marine, Inc. (Fugro) for the take of marine mammals
incidental to geophysical survey activity in the Gulf of America (GOA).
DATES: The LOA is effective from July 23, 2025 through August 31, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The LOA, LOA request, and supporting documentation are
available online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey-activity-gulf-mexico. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call
the contact listed below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenna Harlacher, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
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 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 authorization for incidental takings 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.
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).
On January 19, 2021, we issued a final rule with regulations to
govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to
geophysical survey activities conducted by oil and gas industry
operators, and those persons authorized to conduct activities on their
behalf (collectively ``industry operators''), in U.S. waters of the GOA
\1\ over the course of 5 years (86 FR 5322, January 19, 2021). The rule
was based on our findings that the total taking from the specified
activities over the 5-year period will have a negligible impact on the
affected species or stock(s) of marine mammals and will not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of those species or
stocks for subsistence uses, and became effective on April 19, 2021.
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\1\ Pursuant to Executive Order 14172, ``Restoring Names That
Honor American Greatness,'' and Department of the Interior
Secretarial Order 3423, ``The Gulf of America,'' the body of water
formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico is now called the Gulf of
America. Accordingly, this Federal Register Notice hereafter refers
to the Gulf of America.
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The regulations at 50 CFR 217.180 et seq. allow for the issuance of
LOAs to industry operators for the incidental take of marine mammals
during geophysical survey activities and prescribe the permissible
methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable
adverse impact on
[[Page 35510]]
marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat (often referred to as
mitigation), as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and
reporting of such taking. Under 50 CFR 217.186(e), issuance of an LOA
shall be based on a determination that the level of taking will be
consistent with the findings made for the total taking allowable under
these regulations and a determination that the amount of take
authorized under the LOA is of no more than small numbers.
NMFS subsequently discovered that the 2021 rule was based on
erroneous take estimates. We conducted another rulemaking using correct
take estimates and other newly available and pertinent information
relevant to the analyses supporting some of the findings in the 2021
final rule and the taking allowable under the regulations. We issued a
final rule in April 2024, effective May 24, 2024 (89 FR 31488, April
24, 2024).
The 2024 final rule made no changes to the specified activities or
the specified geographical region in which those activities would be
conducted, nor to the original 5-year period of effectiveness. In
consideration of the new information, the 2024 rule presented new
analyses supporting affirmance of the negligible impact determinations
for all species, and affirmed that the existing regulations, which
contain mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements, are
consistent with the ``least practicable adverse impact'' standard of
the MMPA.
Summary of Request and Analysis
Fugro plans to conduct a three-dimensional (3D) ocean bottom node
(OBN) survey in the West Delta Area Block 124, with water depths
ranging from approximately 60 to 90 meters (m). See section F of the
LOA application for a map of the area. Fugro anticipates using two
source vessels each with a 160 cubic inch (in\3\) single airgun,
operating in tandem from the vessels in a flip flop operation. Please
see the LOA application for additional detail.
Consistent with the preamble to the final rule, the survey effort
proposed by Fugro in its LOA request was used to develop LOA-specific
take estimates based on the acoustic exposure modeling results
described in the preamble (89 FR 31488, April 24, 2024). In order to
generate the appropriate take number for authorization, the following
information was considered: (1) survey type; (2) location (by modeling
zone \2\); (3) number of days; (4) source; and (5) month.\3\ The
acoustic exposure modeling performed in support of the rule provides
24-hour exposure estimates for each species, specific to each modeled
source and survey type in each zone and month.
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\2\ For purposes of acoustic exposure modeling, the GOA was
divided into seven zones. Zone 1 is not included in the geographic
scope of the rule.
\3\ Acoustic propagation modeling was performed for two seasons:
Winter (December-March) and Summer (April-November). Marine mammal
density data is generally available on a monthly basis, and
therefore further refines take estimates temporally.
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No 3D OBN surveys were included in the modeled survey types, and
use of existing proxies (i.e., two-dimensional (2D), 3D narrow-azimuth
(NAZ), 3D wide-azimuth (WAZ), Coil) is generally conservative for use
in evaluation of 3D OBN survey effort, largely due to the greater area
covered by the modeled proxies. Summary descriptions of these modeled
survey geometries are available in the preamble to the proposed rule
(83 FR 29212, 29220, June 22, 2018). In Fugro's case, these proxies are
overly conservative and therefore exposure modeling results were
generated using the single airgun proxy. Because these results assume
use of a 90-in\3\ airgun, the take numbers authorized through this LOA
are considered the most similar to the sound source planned for use by
Fugro, as compared to the other proxies modeled for the rule. All other
proxies would likely overestimate take due to Fugro's total daily
survey area, short total survey duration, and size of the airgun array
proposed for use.
The survey will take place over approximately 4 days with all days
planned in Zone 2. The monthly distribution of survey days is not known
in advance, though we assume that the planned 4 days of source
operation would occur contiguously. Take estimates for each species are
based on the time period that produces the greatest value.
Based on the results of our analysis, NMFS has determined that the
level of taking expected for this survey and authorized through the LOA
is consistent with the findings made for the total taking allowable
under the regulations. See table 1 in this notice and table 6 of the
rule (89 FR 31488, April 24, 2024).
Small Numbers Determination
Under the rule, NMFS may not authorize incidental take of marine
mammals in an LOA if it will exceed ``small numbers.'' In short, when
an acceptable estimate of the individual marine mammals taken is
available, if the estimated number of individual animals taken is up
to, but not greater than, one-third of the best available abundance
estimate, NMFS will determine that the numbers of marine mammals taken
of a species or stock are small (see 89 FR 31535, May 24, 2024). For
more information please see NMFS' discussion of small numbers in the
2021 final rule (86 FR 5438, January 19, 2021).
The take numbers for authorization, determined as described above
in the Summary of Request and Analysis section, are used by NMFS in
making the necessary small numbers determinations, through comparison
with the best available abundance estimates (see discussion at 86 FR
5322, 5391, January 19, 2021). For this comparison, NMFS' approach is
to use the maximum theoretical population, determined through review of
current stock assessment reports (SAR; https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments) and
model-predicted abundance information (https://seamap.env.duke.edu/models/Duke/GOM/). Information supporting the small numbers
determinations is provided in table 1.
Table 1--Take Analysis \1\
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Species Authorized take Abundance \2\ Percent abundance
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Rice's whale............................................ 0 51 n/a
Sperm whale............................................. 0 2,451 n/a
Kogia spp............................................... 0 1,385 n/a
Beaked whales........................................... 0 1,038 n/a
Rough-toothed dolphin................................... \3\ 14 4,853 0.3
Bottlenose dolphin...................................... 109 166,538 0.1
Clymene dolphin......................................... 0 6,136 n/a
Atlantic spotted dolphin................................ \4\ 26 21,506 0.1
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Pantropical spotted dolphin............................. 0 50,209 n/a
Spinner dolphin......................................... 0 2,991 n/a
Striped dolphin......................................... 0 16,102 n/a
Fraser's dolphin........................................ 0 1,665 n/a
Risso's dolphin......................................... 0 1,974 n/a
Blackfish \5\........................................... 0 9,535 n/a
Short-finned pilot whale................................ 0 3,277 n/a
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\1\ Scalar ratios were not applied in this case due to brief survey duration.
\2\ Best abundance estimate. For most taxa, the best abundance estimate for purposes of comparison with take
estimates is considered here to be the model-predicted abundance (Garrison et al., 2023). For Rice's whale,
Atlantic spotted dolphin, spinner dolphin, and Risso's dolphin, the estimated SAR abundance estimate is used.
\3\ Modeled take of two increased to account for potential encounter with a group of average size (Maze-Foley
and Mullin, 2006).
\4\ Modeled take of 24 increased to account for potential encounter with a group of average size (Maze-Foley and
Mullin, 2006).
\5\ The ``blackfish'' guild includes melon-headed whales, false killer whales, pygmy killer whales, and killer
whales.
Based on the analysis contained herein of Fugro's proposed survey
activity described in its LOA application and the anticipated take of
marine mammals, NMFS finds that small numbers of marine mammals will be
taken relative to the affected species or stock sizes (i.e., less than
one-third of the best available abundance estimate) and therefore the
taking is of no more than small numbers.
Authorization
NMFS has determined that the level of taking for this LOA request
is consistent with the findings made for the total taking allowable
under the incidental take regulations and that the amount of take
authorized under the LOA is of no more than small numbers. Accordingly,
we have issued an LOA to Fugro authorizing the take of marine mammals
incidental to its geophysical survey activity, as described above.
Dated: July 23, 2025.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-14148 Filed 7-25-25; 8:45 am]
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