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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 106 / Friday, June 4, 2021 / Notices
mammals that are expected to be present in the proposed 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.
Vessel-Based Visual Monitoring As described above, PSO observations would take place during daytime airgun operations. During seismic operations, at least five visual PSOs would be based aboard the Langseth. Two visual PSOs would be on duty at all time during daytime hours. Monitoring shall be conducted in accordance with the following requirements:
The operator shall provide PSOs with bigeye binoculars e.g., 25 x 150;
2.7 view angle; individual ocular focus;
height control of appropriate quality i.e., Fujinon or equivalent solely for PSO use. These shall be pedestalmounted on the deck at the most appropriate vantage point that provides for optimal sea surface observation, PSO
safety, and safe operation of the vessel;
and
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The operator will work with the selected third-party observer provider to ensure PSOs have all equipment including backup equipment needed to adequately perform necessary tasks, including accurate determination of distance and bearing to observed marine mammals.
PSOs must have the following requirements and qualifications:
PSOs shall be independent, dedicated, trained visual and acoustic PSOs and must be employed by a thirdparty observer provider;
PSOs shall have no tasks other than to conduct observational effort visual or acoustic, collect data, and communicate with and instruct relevant vessel crew with regard to the presence of protected species and mitigation requirements including brief alerts regarding maritime hazards;
PSOs shall have successfully completed an approved PSO training course appropriate for their designated task visual or acoustic. Acoustic PSOs are required to complete specialized training for operating PAM systems and are encouraged to have familiarity with the vessel with which they will be working;
PSOs can act as acoustic or visual observers but not at the same time as long as they demonstrate that their training and experience are sufficient to perform the task at hand;
NMFS must review and approve PSO resumes accompanied by a relevant training course information packet that includes the name and qualifications i.e., experience, training completed, or educational background of the instructors, the course outline or syllabus, and course reference material as well as a document stating successful completion of the course;
NMFS shall have one week to approve PSOs from the time that the necessary information is submitted, after which PSOs meeting the minimum requirements shall automatically be considered approved;
PSOs must successfully complete relevant training, including completion of all required coursework and passing 80 percent or greater a written and/or oral examination developed for the training program;
PSOs must have successfully attained a bachelors degree from an accredited college or university with a major in one of the natural sciences, a minimum of 30 semester hours or equivalent in the biological sciences, and at least one undergraduate course in math or statistics; and The educational requirements may be waived if the PSO has acquired the relevant skills through alternate
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experience. Requests for such a waiver shall be submitted to NMFS and must include written justification. Requests shall be granted or denied with justification by NMFS within one week of receipt of submitted information.
Alternate experience that may be considered includes, but is not limited to 1 secondary education and/or experience comparable to PSO duties;
2 previous work experience conducting academic, commercial, or government-sponsored protected species surveys; or 3 previous work experience as a PSO; the PSO should demonstrate good standing and consistently good performance of PSO
duties.
For data collection purposes, PSOs shall use standardized data collection forms, whether hard copy or electronic.
PSOs shall record detailed information about any implementation of mitigation requirements, including the distance of animals to the acoustic source and description of specific actions that ensued, the behavior of the animals, any observed changes in behavior before and after implementation of mitigation, and if shutdown was implemented, the length of time before any subsequent ramp-up of the acoustic source. If required mitigation was not implemented, PSOs should record a description of the circumstances. At a minimum, the following information must be recorded:
Vessel names source vessel and other vessels associated with survey and call signs;
PSO names and affiliations;
Dates of departures and returns to port with port name;
Date and participants of PSO
briefings;
Dates and times Greenwich Mean Time of survey effort and times corresponding with PSO effort;
Vessel location latitude/longitude when survey effort began and ended and vessel location at beginning and end of visual PSO duty shifts;
Vessel heading and speed at beginning and end of visual PSO duty shifts and upon any line change;
Environmental conditions while on visual survey at beginning and end of PSO shift and whenever conditions changed significantly, including BSS
and any other relevant weather conditions including cloud cover, fog, sun glare, and overall visibility to the horizon;
Factors that may have contributed to impaired observations during each PSO shift change or as needed as environmental conditions changed e.g., vessel traffic, equipment malfunctions;
and
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