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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 106 / Friday, June 4, 2021 / Proposed Rules
TABLE 3MARINE MAMMAL PRESENT WITHIN THE NORTHEAST U.S. CONTINENTAL SHELF LARGE MARINE ECOSYSTEM
Continued Common name
Spinner dolphin
Rough-toothed dolphin
Bottlenose dolphin

Family Phocoenidae porpoises:
Harbor porpoise

ESA/
MMPA
status;
strategic Y/N 1

Stock abundance CV, Nmin, most recent abundance survey 2

PBR 3

Total annual M/SI 3

Scientific name
Stock
S. longirostris
Steno bredanensis
Tursiops truncatus truncatus.

Western North Atlantic
Western North Atlantic
Western North Atlantic WNA Offshore.
WNA Northern Migratory Coastal.

; N
; N
; N

4,102 0.99, 2,045, 2016
136 1.0, 67, 2016
62,851 0.23, 51,914, 2016

20
0.7
519

0
0 28

/D; Y

6,639 0.41, 4,759, 2016

48

13 1.2

Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy Stock.

; N

Phocoena phocoena phocoena.

21.5
95,543 0.31, 74,034, 2016

851

8 217

27,131 0.19, 23,158, 2016
75,834 0.15, 66,884, 2012

1,389
2,006

8 4,729

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

Halichoerus grypus grypus Phoca vitulina vitulina

Western North Atlantic
Western North Atlantic

; N
; N

8 350

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. NMFS automatically designates any species or stock listed under the ESA as depleted and as a strategic stock under the MMPA.
2 NMFS marine mammal stock assessment reports at: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/sars/. CV is coefficient of variation; N
min is the minimum estimate of stock abundance.
In some cases, abundance and PBR is unknown Unk and the CV is not applicable.
3 These values, found in NMFS SARs, represent PBR and annual levels of human-caused mortality plus serious injury from all sources combined e.g., commercial fisheries, subsistence hunting, and ship strike. In some cases PBR is unknown Unk because the minimum population size cannot be determined. Annual M/SI often cannot be determined precisely and is in some cases presented as a minimum value or as unknown Unk.
4 Abundance estimate taken from Pace et al., 2021.
5 Total M/SI of 18.6 for this species is model-derived and not broken down by cause. The fishery contribution of 6.85 is observed interactions only.
6 Given the small proportion of the distribution range that has been sampled and considering the low number of blue whales encountered and photographed, the current data, based on photo-identification, do not allow for an estimate of abundance of this species in the Northwest Atlantic with a minimum degree of certainty Sears et al. 1987; Hammond et al. 1990; Sears et al. 1990; Sears and Calambokidis 2002; Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2009.
7 The total estimated human-caused mortality and serious injury to the Canadian East Coast minke whale stock is estimated as 10.6 per year 9.15 attributable to fisheries.
8 The NEFSC has historically taken this species in NEFSC research surveys 20042015 see Tables 68.
9 The total estimated human-caused mortality and serious injury to the Nova Scotia sei whale stock is estimated as 1.2 per year 0.4 attributable to fisheries.
10 The total estimated human-caused mortality and serious injury to the Western North Atlantic fin whale stock is estimated as 2.35 per year 1.55 attributable to fisheiries.
11 Total M/SI of 58 for this species is model-derived and not broken down by cause. The fishery contribution of 9.5 is observed interactions obly.
12 The total number of this species of beaked whale off the eastern U.S. and Canadian Atlantic coast is unknown, and seasonal abundance estimates are not available for this stock. However, several estimates of the undifferentiated complex of beaked whales Ziphius and Mesoplodon spp. from selected regions are available for select time periods Barlow et al. 2006 as well as two estimates of Mesoplodon spp. beaked whales alone Waring et al., 2015.
13 The Northern migratory stock of common bottlenose dolphins may interact with unobserved fisheries. Therefore, a range of human-caused mortality and serious injury for this stock is presented.

As indicated above, all 35 number species comprising 37 managed stocks in Table 3 temporally and spatially cooccur with the surveys provided in Table 1 to the degree that take is reasonably likely to occur, and we have proposed authorizing it. While beluga Delphinapterus leucas, Brydes Balaenoptera edeni, false killer Pseudorca crassidens whales, harp seals Pagophilus groenlandica and hooded seals Cystophora cristata have been documented in the area, these occurrence records are rare and are considered beyond the normal range of the species.
In addition, the manatee Trichechus manatus latirostris may be found in the MAB and SE LME. However, manatee are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and are not considered further in this document.
A full description of the biology, ecology, and threats to marine mammals listed in Table 3 can be found in NMFS
proposed rule for the initial LOA 80 FR
39542; July 9, 2015, NEFSCs application, and NMFS Programmatic
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Environmental Assessment NMFS, 2016. Please refer to those documents for those descriptions. Table 3 updates information regarding abundance and human interaction and below we update on take reduction planning, unusual mortality events, and biologically important areas.
Take reduction planningTake reduction plans help recover and prevent the depletion of strategic marine mammal stocks that interact with certain U.S. commercial fisheries, as required by Section 118 of the MMPA.
The immediate goal of a take reduction plan is to reduce, within six months of its implementation, the M/SI of marine mammals incidental to commercial fishing to less than the PBR level. The long-term goal is to reduce, within five years of its implementation, the M/SI of marine mammals incidental to commercial fishing to insignificant levels, approaching a zero serious injury and mortality rate, taking into account the economics of the fishery, the availability of existing technology, and existing state or regional fishery
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management plans. NMFS convenes Take Reduction Teams to develop these plans.
For marine mammals in specified geographic region of NEFSC research programs, there are currently four take reduction plans in effect the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan, the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan, and the Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Plan. As discussed earlier in the Proposed Mitigation section, the NEFSC and NEFSC cooperative research projects comply with applicable TRP mitigation measures and gear requirements specified for their respective fisheries and areas.
The Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan ALWTRPThe goal of this plan is to reduce mortality/serious injury M/SI of North Atlantic right, humpback, fin, and minke whales in several northeast fisheries that use lobster trap/pots and gillnets. Gear modification requirements and restrictions vary by location, date, and
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