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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 33 / Monday, February 22, 2021 / Notices TABLE 2SPECIES FOR WHICH TAKE IS REASONABLY LIKELY TO OCCURContinued Common name
Scientific name
ESA/
MMPA
status;
strategic Y/N 1

Stock
Stock abundance CV, Nmin, most recent abundance survey 2

PBR

Annual M/SI 3

Order CarnivoraSuperfamily Pinnipedia Family Phocidae earless seals:
Ringed seal

Phoca pusa hispida

Arctic

T/D; Y

Spotted seal

Phoca largha

Bering

-/-; N

Bearded seal

Erignathus barbatus

Beringia

T/D; Y

see SAR see SAR, see SAR, 20122013.
461,625 see SAR, 423,237, 2013.
see SAR see SAR, see SAR, 20122013.

6,459

863

25,394

5,254

See SAR

6,709

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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.
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 strike.

As indicated above, all six species with seven managed stocks in Table 2
temporally and spatially co-occur with the activity to the degree that take is reasonably likely to occur, and we have authorized take. While a harbor porpoise was sighted in the 2017
ASAMM survey Clarke et al., 2018, the spatial occurrence of harbor porpoise is such that take is not expected to occur, and they are not discussed further beyond the explanation provided here.
Harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena are considered to be extremely rare in the Beaufort Sea, particularly in the project area Megan Ferguson, pers.
comm., November 2019.
In addition, the polar bear may be found in Prudhoe Bay. However, polar bears are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and are not considered further in this document.
A detailed description of the of the species likely to be affected by AGDCs project, 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 Federal Register notice for the proposed IHA 85 FR
43382; July 16, 2020; since that time, we are not aware of any changes in the status of these species and stocks, other than the proposed critical habitat designations under the ESA for the Beringia DPS of the Bearded Seal and the Arctic Subspecies of the Ringed Seal, discussed below; therefore, other than the critical habitat discussion, detailed descriptions are not provided here. Please refer to that Federal Register notice for these descriptions.
Please also refer to NMFS website https www.fisheries.noaa.gov/find-

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species for generalized species accounts.
Critical Habitat On January 8, 2021, NMFS published a proposed rule for the Designation of Critical Habitat for the Beringia DPS of the Bearded Seal 86 FR 1433. NMFS
identified the physical and biological features essential to the conservation of the species: 1 Sea ice habitat suitable for whelping and nursing, which is defined as areas with waters 200 m or less in depth containing pack ice of at least 25 percent concentration and providing bearded seals access to those waters from the ice; 2 sea ice habitat suitable as a platform for molting, which is defined as areas with waters 200 m or less in depth containing pack ice of at least 15 percent concentration and providing bearded seals access to those waters from the ice; 3 primary prey resources to support bearded seals in waters 200 m or less in depth: benthic organisms, including epifaunal and infaunal invertebrates, and demersal and schooling pelagic fishes; and 4
acoustic conditions that allow for effective communication by bearded seals for breeding purposes within waters used by breeding bearded seals.
The proposed designation under the ESA comprises a specific area of marine habitat in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas, extending from mean lower low water MLLW to a depth of 200 m within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone EEZ, including this construction projects Level A and Level B harassment zones see 86 FR 1433, January 8, 2021 for additional detail and a map of the proposed area.
On January 8, 2021, NMFS also published a revised proposed rule for the Designation of Critical Habitat for
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the Arctic Subspecies of the Ringed Seal 86 FR 1452. This proposed rule revises NMFS December 9, 2014, proposed designation of critical habitat for the Arctic subspecies of the ringed seal under the ESA. NMFS identified the physical and biological features essential to the conservation of the species: 1 Snow-covered sea ice habitat suitable for the formation and maintenance of subnivean birth lairs used for sheltering pups during whelping and nursing, which is defined as areas of seasonal landfast shorefast ice and dense, stable pack ice, excluding any bottom-fast ice extending seaward from the coastline typically in waters less than 2 m deep, that have undergone deformation and contain snowdrifts of sufficient depth, typically at least 54 cm deep; 2 Sea ice habitat suitable as a platform for basking and molting, which is defined as areas containing sea ice of 15 percent or more concentration, excluding any bottomfast ice extending seaward from the coastline typically in waters less than 2 m deep; and 3 Primary prey resources to support Arctic ringed seals, which are defined to be Arctic cod, saffron cod, shrimps, and amphipods.
The revised proposed designation comprises a specific area of marine habitat in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas, extending from MLLW to an offshore limit within the U.S. EEZ, including this construction projects Level A and Level B harassment zones see 86 FR 1452; January 8, 2021 for additional detail and a map of the proposed area.
Potential Effects of Specified Activities on Marine Mammals and Their Habitat The effects of underwater noise from AGDCs construction activities have the
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