[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 202 (Friday, October 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55940-55941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22729]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XR050
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Rocky Intertidal Monitoring Surveys Along the Oregon and
California Coasts
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for Letter of Authorization;
request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the University of California
Santa Cruz for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals
incidental to rocky intertidal monitoring along the coasts of Oregon
and California over the course of five years from the date of issuance.
Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of the University of
[[Page 55941]]
California Santa Cruz's request for the development and implementation
of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS
invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on
the University of California Santa Cruz's application and request.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than November
18, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to Jolie
Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. Physical comments should
be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 and
electronic comments should be sent to [email protected].
Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted online at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities without change. All
personal identifying information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit
confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dwayne Meadows, Office of
Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of the
University of California Santa Cruz's application may be obtained
online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call
the contact listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.)
direct the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon
request, the incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers
of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity
(other than commercial fishing) within a specified geographical region
if certain findings are made and either regulations are issued or, if
the taking is limited to harassment, a notice of a proposed
authorization is provided to the public for review.
An incidental take authorization shall be granted if NMFS finds
that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or
stock(s), will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses (where
relevant), and if the permissible methods of taking and requirements
pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such takings
are set forth.
NMFS has defined ``negligible impact'' in 50 CFR 216.103 as an
impact resulting from the specified activity that cannot be reasonably
expected to, and is not reasonably likely to, adversely affect the
species or stock through effects on annual rates of recruitment or
survival.
The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt,
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine
mammal.
Except with respect to certain activities not pertinent here, the
MMPA defines ``harassment'' as: Any act of pursuit, torment, or
annoyance, which (i) has the potential to injure a marine mammal or
marine mammal stock in the wild (Level A harassment); or (ii) has the
potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild
by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not
limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or
sheltering (Level B harassment).
Summary of Request
On August 12, 2019, NMFS received an application from the
University of California Santa Cruz requesting authorization for take
of marine mammals incidental to research activities related to rocky
intertidal monitoring along the coasts of Oregon and California. After
the applicant responded to our questions, we determined the application
was adequate and complete on October 8, 2019. The requested regulations
would be valid for five years, from 2020 through 2025. The University
of California Santa Cruz plans to conduct necessary work, including
research surveys, to monitor rocky intertidal communities. The proposed
action may incidentally expose marine mammals occurring in the vicinity
to researchers moving through their habitat, and setting up research
transects and photoquadrats, thereby resulting in incidental take, by
Level B harassment only. Therefore, the University of California Santa
Cruz requests authorization to incidentally take marine mammals.
Specified Activities
The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans
(PISCO, www.piscoweb.org), administered by the University of California
Santa Cruz, conducts monitoring at rocky intertidal sites in California
and Oregon. They have been conducting similar research since 2013.
Information from PISCO's research is used to inform marine policy and
is also made available to the public through outreach and educational
programs. The University of California Santa Cruz anticipates
approximately 300 survey days over the course of the 5-year period.
They expect to take California sea lions, Northern elephant seals,
Steller sea lions, and California and Oregon/Washington stocks of
harbor seals.
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and
comments concerning the University of California Santa Cruz's request
(see ADDRESSES). NMFS will consider all information, suggestions, and
comments related to the request during the development of proposed
regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals by
University of California Santa Cruz, if appropriate.
Dated: October 11, 2019.
Donna Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-22729 Filed 10-17-19; 8:45 am]
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