Quiero saber acerca de...

46184

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 157 / Wednesday, August 18, 2021 / Notices
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES

peer review of the monitoring plan is not required.
NMFS conclusion that UAGIs survey activity will not affect the availability of a species or stock of marine mammal for taking for subsistence purposes was based on the fact that the activity is a significant distance from shore and well beyond traditional hunting areas. The take UAGI requested will occur incidental to activities conducted well beyond 200 km from any hunting area or buffer. The survey will occur no closer than 300 km from the Alaska coastline, with the high-energy portion of the project occurring no closer than 530 km from the coastline. The maximum estimated harassment zone for the survey is 2.4 km and 4.65 km for the low-energy and high-energy survey portions, respectively. Therefore, any take from these activities will not directly interfere with the hunt.
Furthermore, there is no information supporting a conclusion that any behavioral disturbance of bowhead whales occurring at such great distance from traditional hunting areas 300500
km would affect their subsequent behavior in a manner that would interfere with subsistence uses should those whales later interact with hunters.
As stated above, based on the foregoing information, NMFS determined that the activity would not affect the availability of any species or stock for taking for subsistence purposes and, therefore, that peer review of the monitoring plan was not warranted. No changes have been made from the proposed IHA to the final IHA in response to comments.
Changes From the Proposed IHA to Final IHA
Following the public comment period, NMFS identified an error in the calculation of bowhead whale density.
The density value for bowhead whales described in the notice of proposed IHA
86 FR 28787; May 28, 2021 0.0124
was itself correct, but represents the number of individuals per 100 km2
rather than individuals per 1 km2, as was assumed for the proposed IHA.
NMFS has corrected this error and, as a result, the authorized Level B
harassment take number is reduced from 339 to 3.
Additionally, NMFS identified errors made when calculating the total take numbers proposed for authorization for all species due to use of incorrect estimated Level A harassment ensonified areas and double counting of estimated exposures within Level A
harassment zones i.e., estimated exposures were double counted as both Level B harassment takes and as
VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:34 Aug 17, 2021

Jkt 253001

independently estimated exposures within the Level A harassment zones, which were also tallied as takes by Level B harassment. These errors have been corrected, and the revised authorized take numbers are shown in Table 7. All revised take numbers are lower than those proposed for authorization 86 FR 28787; May 28, 2021. Please refer to the Estimated Take section for further detail regarding this change.
Lastly, we note a mistake in the proposed IHA that has since been corrected. One section of the proposed IHA 4fiv described the shutdown mitigation measure for bowhead whales to be at any distance while the proposed FR notice and the rest of the proposed IHA stated this distance to be at 1,500
m. This has since been corrected for the final IHA and the shutdown area and the exclusion zone will be at 1,500 m bowhead whales. Additionally, the requirement for bigeye binoculars has been removed as they are not available on board the R/V Sikuliaq.
Description of Marine Mammals in the Area of Specified Activities Sections 3 and 4 of the application summarize available information regarding status and trends, distribution and habitat preferences, and behavior and life history of the potentially affected species. Additional information regarding population trends and threats may be found in NMFS Stock Assessment Reports SARs; https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-mammal-protection/marinemammal-stock-assessments and more general information about these species e.g., physical and behavioral descriptions may be found on NMFS
website https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/find-species.
Additional information may be found in the Aerial Survey of Arctic Marine Mammals ASAMM reports, which are available online at https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/marinemammal-protection/aerial-surveysarctic-marine-mammals.
Table 1 lists all species or stocks for which take is expected and authorized for this action, and summarizes information related to the population or stock, including regulatory status under the MMPA and Endangered Species Act ESA and potential biological removal PBR, where known. For taxonomy, we follow Committee on Taxonomy from the Society for Marine Mammalogy 2021. PBR is defined by the MMPA as the maximum number of animals, not including natural mortalities, that may be removed from a marine mammal
PO 00000

Frm 00011

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

stock while allowing that stock to reach or maintain its optimum sustainable population as described in NMFSs SARs. While no mortality is anticipated or authorized here, PBR and annual serious injury and mortality from anthropogenic sources are included here as gross indicators of the status of the species and other threats.
Marine mammal abundance estimates presented in this document represent the total number of individuals that make up a given stock or the total number estimated within a particular study or survey area. NMFS stock abundance estimates for most species represent the total estimate of individuals within the geographic area, if known, that comprise that stock. For most species, stock abundance estimates are based on sightings within the U.S.
EEZ; however, for some species, this geographic area may extend beyond U.S.
waters. Survey abundance estimates may be used for other species. Survey abundance as compared to stock or species abundance is the total number of individuals estimated within the survey area, which may or may not align completely with a stocks geographic range as defined in the SARs. These surveys may also extend beyond U.S.
waters. In this case, the survey area outside of the U.S. EEZ does not necessarily overlap with the ranges for stocks managed by NMFS. However, we assume that individuals of these species that may be encountered during the survey would be part of those stocks.
Additionally, six species listed in Table 1 indicate Unknown abundance estimates. This may be due to outdated data and population estimates or data is not representative of the entire stock.
All managed stocks in this region are assessed in NMFS U.S. Alaska and Pacific SARs e.g., Muto et al., 2021, Carretta et al., 2021. All values presented in Table 1 are the most recent available at the time of publication and are available in the 2020 SARs Muto et al., 2021, Carretta et al., 2021 available online at: https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-mammal-protection/draftmarine-mammal-stock-assessmentreports.
In addition, the Pacific walrus Odobenus rosmarus divergens and the Polar bear Ursus maritimus may be found in the Arctic. However, Pacific walruses and Polar bears are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and are not considered further in this document.

E:FRFM18AUN1.SGM

18AUN1