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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 106 / Friday, June 4, 2021 / Proposed Rules
potentially effective and practicable gear modification mitigation measures are part of the adaptive management strategy included in this rule.
General Measures Visual MonitoringEffective monitoring is a key step in implementing mitigation measures and is achieved through regular marine mammal watches. Marine mammal watches are a standard part of conducting NEFSC fisheries research activities, particularly those activities that use gears that are known to or potentially interact with marine mammals. Marine mammal watches and monitoring occur during daylight hours prior to deployment of gear e.g., trawls, longline gear, and they continue until gear is brought back on board. If marine mammals are sighted in the area within 15 minutes prior to deployment of gear and are considered to be at risk of interaction with the research gear, then the sampling station is either moved or canceled or the activity is suspended until there are no sightings for 15
minutes within 1nm of sampling location. On smaller vessels, the Chief Scientist CS and the vessel operator are typically those looking for marine mammals and other protected species.
When marine mammal researchers are on board distinct from marine mammal observers dedicated to monitoring for potential gear interactions, they will record the estimated species and numbers of animals present and their behavior. If marine mammal researchers are not on board or available, then the CS in cooperation with the vessel operator will monitor for marine mammals and provide training as practical to bridge crew and other crew to observe and record such information.
Coordination and Communication When NEFSC survey effort is conducted aboard NOAA-owned vessels, there are both vessel officers and crew and a scientific party. Vessel officers and crew are not composed of NEFSC staff but are employees of NOAAs Office of Marine and Aviation Operations OMAO, which is responsible for the management and operation of NOAA
fleet ships and aircraft and is composed of uniformed officers of the NOAA
Commissioned Corps as well as civilians. The ships officers and crew provide mission support and assistance to embarked scientists, and the vessels Commanding Officer CO has ultimate responsibility for vessel and passenger safety and, therefore, decision authority regarding the implementation of mitigation measures. When NEFSC
survey effort is conducted aboard cooperative platforms i.e., non-NOAA

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vessels, ultimate responsibility and decision authority again rests with nonNEFSC personnel i.e., vessels master or captain. Although the discussion throughout this Rule does not always explicitly reference those with decisionmaking authority from cooperative platforms, all mitigation measures apply with equal force to non-NOAA vessels and personnel as they do to NOAA
vessels and personnel. Decision authority includes the implementation of mitigation measures e.g., whether to stop deployment of trawl gear upon observation of marine mammals. The scientific party involved in any NEFSC
survey effort is composed, in part or whole, of NEFSC staff and is led by a CS. Therefore, because the NEFSCnot OMAO or any other entity that may have authority over survey platforms used by NEFSCis the applicant to whom any incidental take authorization issued under the authority of these proposed regulations would be issued, we require that the NEFSC take all necessary measures to coordinate and communicate in advance of each specific survey with OMAO, or other relevant parties, to ensure that all mitigation measures and monitoring requirements described herein, as well as the specific manner of implementation and relevant eventcontingent decision-making processes, are clearly understood and agreed-upon.
This may involve description of all required measures when submitting cruise instructions to OMAO or when completing contracts with external entities. NEFSC will coordinate and conduct briefings at the outset of each survey and as necessary between the ships crew CO/master or designees, as appropriate and scientific party in order to explain responsibilities, communication procedures, marine mammal monitoring protocol, and operational procedures. The CS will be responsible for coordination with the Officer on Deck OOD; or equivalent on non-NOAA platforms to ensure that requirements, procedures, and decisionmaking processes are understood and properly implemented.
The NEFSC will coordinate with the local Northeast Regional Stranding Coordinator and the NMFS Stranding Coordinator for any unusual protected species behavior and any stranding, beached live/dead, or floating protected species that are encountered during field research activities. If a large whale is alive and entangled in fishing gear, the vessel will immediately call the U.S.
Coast Guard at VHF Ch. 16 and/or the appropriate Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Network for
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instructions. All entanglements live or dead and vessel strikes must be reported immediately to the NOAA
Fisheries Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline at 8887556622. In addition, any entanglement or vessel strike must be reported to the NMFS Protected Species Incidental Take database PSIT
within 48 hours of the event happening see Proposed Monitoring and Reporting.
Vessel Speed Limits and Course Alteration When NEFSC research vessels are actively sampling, cruise speeds are less than 5 kts, typically 24 kts, a speed at which the probability of collision and serious injury of large whales is de minimus. However, transit speed between active sampling stations will range from 1012 kts, except in areas where vessel speeds are regulated to lower speeds.
On 9 December 2013, NMFS
published a Final rule to remove sunset provision of the Final Rule Implementing Vessel Speed Restrictions to Reduce the Threat of Ship Collisions with NARWs 78 FR 73726. The 2013
final rule continued the vessel speed restrictions to reduce the threat of ship collisions with NARWs that were originally published in a final rule on 10
October 2008 73 FR 60173. The rule requires that vessels 65 feet and greater in length travel at 10 knots or less near key port entrances and in certain areas of right whale aggregation along the U.S.
eastern seaboard, known as Seasonal Management Areas. The spatial and temporal locations of SMAs from Maine to Florida can be found at: https
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
endangered-species-conservation/
reducing-vessel-strikes-north-atlanticright-whalesvessel-speed-restrictions.
In addition, Right Whale Slow Zones is a program that notifies vessel operators of areas where maintaining speeds of 10
knots or less can help protect right whales from vessel collisions. Under this program, NOAA Fisheries provides maps and coordinates to vessel operators indicating areas where right whales have been detected. Mariners are encouraged to avoid these areas or reduce speeds to 10 knots or less while transiting through these areas for 15
days. Right Whale Slow Zones are established around areas where right whales have been recently seen or heard. These areas are identical to Dynamic Management Areas DMA
when triggered by right whale visual sightings, but they will also be established when right whale detections are confirmed from acoustic receivers.
All NEFSC vessels over 65 ft will abide
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