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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 8, 2021 / Notices Greater Atlantic Regional Stranding Coordinator or local stranding network and follow any instructions provided by the Stranding Coordinator or stranding network;
Clarified the number and potential locations of Protected Species Observers PSOs;
Clarified that pile driving/removal must only occur during daylight hours;
Clarified in this notice that 10, 18inch flat-webbed piles will be acoustically monitored during vibratory and impact pile driving, and 4, 30-inch steel piles will be monitored during vibratory pile driving, as was included in the draft IHA;
Added hydroacoustic monitoring plan, which can be accessed at: https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-mammal-protection/incidentaltake-authorizations-constructionactivitiesactive-authorizations;
Corrected contact information and requirements for reporting a dead or injured marine mammal to provide consistency between this notice and the IHA;
Clarified that the IHA condition 4e applies to all activities; and
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.
Table 2 lists the five marine mammal species, including one cetacean and four pinnipeds, with the potential to occur in the area of the specified activity and for which take is authorized for this action, and summarizes information related to the population or stock, including regulatory status under the MMPA and ESA and potential biological removal PBR, where known. For taxonomy, NMFS follows Committee on Taxonomy 2020. PBR is defined by the MMPA as the maximum number of animals, not including natural mortalities, that may
be removed from a marine mammal stock while allowing that stock to reach or maintain its optimum sustainable population as described in NMFS
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 comprises that stock. For some species, this geographic area may extend beyond U.S. waters. All managed stocks in this region are assessed in NMFS U.S. Atlantic Marine Mammal SARs. All values presented in Table 2
are the most recent available at the time of publication and are available in the final 2019 SARs Hayes et al., 2020 and draft 2020 SARs, available online at:
https www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
national/marine-mammal-protection/
draft-marine-mammal-stockassessment-reports.

TABLE 2MARINE MAMMALS WITH POTENTIAL PRESENCE WITHIN THE PROJECT AREA
Common name
Scientific name
Stock
I

ESA/
MMPA
status;
strategic Y/N 1

I

Stock abundance CV, Nmin, most recent abundance survey 2

Annual M/SI 3

PBR

I

I

Order CetartiodactylaCetaceaSuperfamily Odontoceti toothed whales Family Phocoenidae porpoises:
Harbor porpoise

Phocoena phocoena

Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy
-; N

95,543 0.31; 74,034; 2016

851

217

75,834 0.15, 66,884; 2012
27,131 4 0.19; 23,158; 2016
Unknown NA, NA
Unknown NA, NA

2,006
1,389
unk unk
350
4,729
232,422
1,680

Order CarnivoraSuperfamily Pinnipedia Family Phocidae earless seals:
Harbor seal
Gray seal
Harp seal
Hooded seal

Phoca vitulina
Halichoerus grypus
Pagophilus groenlandicus
Cystophora cristata

Western Western Western Western
North North North North
Atlantic Atlantic Atlantic Atlantic

I

-;
-;
-;
-;

N
N N
N

I

I

1 Endangered
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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-assessmentreports-regionreports. CV is coefficient of variation; Nmin is the minimum estimate of stock abundance.
3 These values, found in NMFS SARs, represent annual levels of human-caused mortality plus serious injury from all sources combined e.g., commercial fisheries, ship strike. 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.
4 NMFS stock abundance estimate applies to U.S. population only, actual stock abundance is approximately 451,431. The PBR value presented is in relation to the U.S. population, whereas the annual M/SI value is for the entire stock.

Detailed descriptions of the species likely to be affected by the Navys activities, including brief introductions to the species and relevant stocks as well as available information regarding population trends and threats, and information regarding local occurrence were provided in the notice of the
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proposed IHA 86 FR 18244; April 8, 2021. Since that time, NMFS is not aware of any substantive new information regarding these species or stocks; therefore, detailed descriptions are not provided here. Please refer to that notice for descriptions. Please also refer to NMFS website
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www.fisheries.noaa.gov/find-species for generalized species accounts.
Marine Mammal Hearing Hearing is the most important sensory modality for marine mammals underwater, and exposure to anthropogenic sound can have
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