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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 25, 2021 / Rules and Regulations TABLE 1MARINE MAMMALS POTENTIALLY PRESENT IN THE VICINITY OF THE STUDY AREAS

Common name
Scientific name
Stock
I

ESA/
MMPA
status;
Strategic Y/N 1

Stock abundance CV, Nmin, most recent abundance survey 2

PBR

Annual M/
SI 3

I

Order CarnivoraSuperfamily Pinnipedia Family Otariidae eared seals and sea lions:
California sea lion
Steller sea lion
Northern fur seal
Guadalupe fur seal
Family Phocidae earless seals:
Harbor seal
Northern elephant seal

Zalophus californianus
Eumetopias jubatus
Callorhinus ursinus
Arctocephalus philippii townsendi.

Phoca vitulina richardii
Mirounga angustirostris

U.S.
Eastern U.S.
California
Eastern Pacific
Mexico to California

-/-; N
-/-; N
-/-; N
-/D; Y
T/D; Y

257,606 n/a; 233,515; 2014
43,201 n/a; 43,201; 2017 ..
14,050 n/a; 7,524; 2013
620,660 0.2, 525,333, 2016
34,187 n/a; 31,019; 2013 ..

14,011
2,592
451
11,295
1,062

>320
113
>0.8
399
>1.2

California
California

-/-; N
-/-; N

30,968 n/a; 27,348; 2012 ..
179,000 n/a; 81,368; 2010

1,641
4,882

43
8.8

1 Endangered Species Act ESA status: Endangered E, Threatened T/MMPA status: Depleted D. A dash - indicates that the species is not listed under the ESA or designated as depleted under the MMPA. Under the MMPA, a strategic stock is one for which the level of direct human-caused mortality exceeds PBR or which is determined to be declining and likely to be listed under the ESA within the foreseeable future. Any species or stock listed under the ESA is automatically designated under the MMPA as depleted and as a strategic stock.
2 NMFS marine mammal stock assessment reports online at: https www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments. CV is coefficient of variation; Nmin is the minimum estimate of stock abundance. In some cases, CV is not applicable.
3 These values, found in NMFSs SARs, represent annual levels of human-caused mortality plus serious injury from all sources combined e.g., commercial fisheries, ship strikes. Annual M/SI often cannot be determined precisely and is in some cases presented as a minimum value or range. A CV associated with estimated mortality due to commercial fisheries is presented in some cases.

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All species that could potentially occur in the survey areas are included in Table 1. All six species temporally and spatially co-occur with the activity to the degree that take is reasonably likely to occur and has been authorized.
Detailed descriptions of these species were provided in our proposed rule 85
FR 44835; July 24, 2020 and are not repeated here. No new information is available. The southern sea otter Enhydra lutris nereis may be found at SEFI and ANI. However, they are managed by the USFWS and are not considered further in this document.
Potential Effects of Specified Activities on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat We provided discussion of the potential effects of the specified activity on marine mammals and their habitat in our Federal Register proposed rule 85
FR 44835; July 24, 2020 and it is not repeated here. The proposed rule included a summary and discussion of the ways that components of the specified activity may impact marine mammals and their habitat. The Estimated Take section later in this final rule includes a quantitative analysis of the number of individuals that are expected to be taken by this activity.
The Negligible Impact Analysis and Determination section considers the content and material referenced therein, as well as the content and material referenced in the Estimated Take section and the Mitigation section, to draw conclusions regarding the likely impacts of these activities on the reproductive success or survivorship of individuals and how those impacts on individuals
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are likely to impact marine mammal species or stocks.

Marine Mammal Occurrence and Take Calculation and Estimation
Estimated Take
Take estimates are based on take reported by Point Blue in the last five years Table 2. With the exception of Steller sea lions, Point Blues requested annual take was calculated as the maximum annual recorded take for each species over the last five years with a 10
percent increase to account for potential population growth over the course of the five-year authorization, or the authorized take from the most recent IHA, whichever was greater. As stated above, due to the increased presence and reported takes of Steller sea lions at SEFI, the Marine Mammal Commission recommended that in this final rule NMFS increase the authorized take of Steller sea lions from 65 in the proposed rule to 72 takes by Level B harassment per year, and this change has been included in this final rule.
Take of northern fur seals and Guadalupe fur seals has not been authorized in Point Blues past IHAs.
However, the northern fur seal colony in the Farallon Islands is expanding, and northern fur seals are beginning to haul out in areas that are regularly visited by researchers and in areas that are critical for access to the island. There is also some potential for Guadalupe fur seals to be present at the Farallon Islands, though they are not expected to occur as frequently as northern fur seals.
Therefore, Point Blue has requested, and NMFS has authorized, 20 annual takes by Level B harassment of northern fur seals and 5 annual takes by Level B
harassment of Guadalupe fur seals.

This section provides an estimate of the number of incidental takes authorized by this final rule, and this estimate informs both NMFS
consideration of small numbers and the negligible impact determination.
Harassment is the only type of take expected to result from these activities.
Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, section 318 of 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.
Authorized takes would be by Level B
harassment only, in the form of disruption of behavioral patterns for individual marine mammals resulting from exposure to researchers. Based on the nature of the activity and required mitigation, no Level A harassment, serious injury, or mortality is anticipated or authorized. As described previously, no mortality is anticipated or authorized for this activity. Below we describe how the take is estimated.

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