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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 25, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
these mitigation measures in previous Point Blue incidental take authorizations, NMFS has determined that the required mitigation measures provide the means effecting the least practicable impact on the affected species or stocks and their habitat, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance.
Monitoring and Reporting In order to issue regulations and an LOA for an activity, Section 101a5A
of the MMPA states that NMFS must set forth requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
The MMPA implementing regulations at 50 CFR 216.104a13 indicate that requests for authorizations must include the suggested means of accomplishing the necessary monitoring and reporting that will result in increased knowledge of the species and of the level of taking or impacts on populations of marine mammals that are expected to be present in the action area. Effective reporting is critical both to compliance as well as ensuring that the most value is obtained from the required monitoring.
Monitoring and reporting requirements prescribed by NMFS
should contribute to improved understanding of one or more of the following:
Occurrence of marine mammal species or stocks in the area in which
take is anticipated e.g., presence, abundance, distribution, density;
Nature, scope, or context of likely marine mammal exposure to potential stressors/impacts individual or cumulative, acute or chronic, through better understanding of: 1 Action or environment e.g., source characterization, propagation, ambient noise; 2 affected species e.g., life history, dive patterns; 3 co-occurrence of marine mammal species with the action; or 4 biological or behavioral context of exposure e.g., age, calving or feeding areas;
Individual marine mammal responses behavioral or physiological to acoustic stressors acute, chronic, or cumulative, other stressors, or cumulative impacts from multiple stressors;
How anticipated responses to stressors impact either: 1 Long-term fitness and survival of individual marine mammals; or 2 populations, species, or stocks;
Effects on marine mammal habitat e.g., marine mammal prey species, acoustic habitat, or other important physical components of marine mammal habitat; and Mitigation and monitoring effectiveness.
Point Blue will contribute to the knowledge of pinnipeds in California by noting observations of: 1 Unusual behaviors, numbers, or distributions of pinnipeds, such that any potential follow-up research can be conducted by
the appropriate personnel; 2 tagbearing pinnipeds or carcasses, allowing transmittal of the information to appropriate agencies and personnel; and 3 rare or unusual species of marine mammals for agency follow-up.
Required monitoring protocols for Point Blue will include the following:
1 Record of date, time, and location or closest point of ingress of each visit to the research site;
2 Composition of the marine mammals sighted, such as species, gender, and life history stage e.g., adult, sub-adult, pup;
3 Information on the numbers by species of marine mammals observed during the activities;
4 Estimated number of marine mammals by species that may have been harassed during the activities;
5 Behavioral responses or modifications of behaviors that may be attributed to the specific activities and a description of the specific activities occurring during that time e.g., pedestrian approach, vessel approach;
and 6 Information on the weather, including the tidal state and horizontal visibility.
The lead biologist will serve as an observer to record incidental take. For consistency, any reactions by pinnipeds to researchers will be recorded according to a three-point scale shown in Table 4. Note that only observations of disturbance noted in Levels 2 and 3
should be recorded as takes.

TABLE 4LEVELS OF PINNIPED BEHAVIORAL DISTURBANCE
Level
Type of response
Definition
1

Alert

2

Movement

3

Flush

Seal head orientation or brief movement in response to disturbance, which may include turning head towards the disturbance, craning head and neck while holding the body rigid in a u-shaped position, changing from a lying to a sitting position, or brief movement of less than twice the animals body length.
Movements in response to the source of disturbance, ranging from short withdrawals at least twice the animals body length to longer retreats over the beach, or if already moving a change of direction of greater than 90 degrees.
All retreats flushes to the water.

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Only observations of disturbance Levels 2 and 3 are recorded as takes.

This information will be incorporated into a monitoring report for NMFS. The monitoring report will cover the period from January 1 through December 31 of each year of the authorization. Point Blue will submit annual report data on a calendar year schedule, regardless of the LOAs initiation or expiration dates.
This ensures that data from all consecutive months will be collected and, therefore, can be analyzed to estimate authorized take for future incidental take authorizations regardless of the existing authorizations issuance
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date. Point Blue will submit a draft monitoring report for the activities to NMFS Office of Protected Resources by April 1 of each year. A final report will be prepared and submitted within 30
days following resolution of any comments on the draft report from NMFS. If no comments are received from NMFS, the draft monitoring report will be considered to be the final report.
The final annual report after year five may be included as part of the final report see below.

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Point Blue must also report observations of unusual pinniped behaviors, numbers, or distributions and tag-bearing carcasses to the NMFS West Coast Regional Office.
In the event that personnel discovers an injured or dead marine mammal, Point Blue shall report the incident to the NMFS Office of Protected Resources, and the NMFS West Coast Regional Stranding Coordinator as soon as feasible. If the death or injury was clearly caused by Point Blues activities, Point Blue must immediately cease the
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