Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico, 48999-49001 [2021-18872]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Notices
exempted fishing and exempted
educational activity reports to ensure
activities are carried out as described in
the permit, document the catch for
inclusion in the total catch, and
consider the permittee for future
permits.
Eligible researchers on board federally
permitted fishing vessels that plan to
temporarily possess fish in a manner not
compliant with applicable fishing
regulations for the purpose of collecting
scientific data on catch may submit a
request for a temporary possession letter
of authorization. The researchers are
requested to submit reports of their
scientific research activity after its
completion.
II. Method of Collection
Responses are typically received
electronically. However, information
may also be submitted on paper or by
telephone.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0648–0309.
Form Number(s): None.
Type of Review: Regular submission
(extension of a current information
collection).
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit; individuals or households; not
for profit organizations; state, local or
tribal governments.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
121.
Estimated Time per Response:
Scientific research plans, 13 hours;
scientific research reports, 6 hours;
exempted fishing permit requests, 10
hours; exempted fishing permit reports,
4.5 hours; exempted educational
requests, 5 hours; exempted educational
reports, 2.5 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 2,141.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Public: $0.
Respondent’s Obligation: Mix of
Voluntary, Required to Obtain or Retain
Benefits, or Mandatory.
Legal Authority: The MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et
seq.).
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
IV. Request for Comments
We are soliciting public comments to
permit the Department/Bureau to: (a)
Evaluate whether the proposed
information collection is necessary for
the proper functions of the Department,
including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the
accuracy of our estimate of the time and
cost burden for this proposed collection,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
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Jkt 253001
Evaluate ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (d) Minimize the
reporting burden on those who are to
respond, including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. We will include or
summarize each comment in our request
to OMB to approve this information
collection request. Before including
your address, phone number, email
address, or other personal identifying
information in your comment, you
should be aware that your entire
comment—including your personal
identifying information—may be made
publicly available at any time. While
you may ask us in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of
the Chief Information Officer, Commerce
Department.
[FR Doc. 2021–18881 Filed 8–31–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XB346]
Taking and Importing Marine
Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Geophysical Surveys
Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the
Gulf of Mexico
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of issuance of Letter of
Authorization.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), as amended, its implementing
regulations, and NMFS’ MMPA
Regulations for Taking Marine
Mammals Incidental to Geophysical
Surveys Related to Oil and Gas
Activities in the Gulf of Mexico,
notification is hereby given that a Letter
of Authorization (LOA) has been issued
to Fugro USA Marine, Inc. (Fugro) for
the take of marine mammals incidental
to geophysical survey activity in the
Gulf of Mexico.
DATES: The LOA is effective from
December 1, 2021, through November
30, 2022.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
48999
The LOA, LOA request, and
supporting documentation are available
online at: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/
action/incidental-take-authorization-oiland-gas-industry-geophysical-surveyactivity-gulf-mexico. In case of problems
accessing these documents, please call
the contact listed below (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim
Corcoran, Office of Protected Resources,
NMFS, (301) 427–8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ADDRESSES:
Background
Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the
MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct
the Secretary of Commerce 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 authorization for incidental
takings 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.
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).
On January 19, 2021, we issued a final
rule with regulations to govern the
unintentional taking of marine
mammals incidental to geophysical
survey activities conducted by oil and
gas industry operators, and those
persons authorized to conduct activities
E:\FR\FM\01SEN1.SGM
01SEN1
49000
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Notices
on their behalf (collectively ‘‘industry
operators’’), in Federal waters of the
U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) over the
course of 5 years (86 FR 5322; January
19, 2021). The rule was based on our
findings that the total taking from the
specified activities over the five-year
period will have a negligible impact on
the affected species or stock(s) of marine
mammals and will not have an
unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of those species or stocks for
subsistence uses. The rule became
effective on April 19, 2021.
Our regulations at 50 CFR 217.180 et
seq. allow for the issuance of LOAs to
industry operators for the incidental
take of marine mammals during
geophysical survey activities and
prescribe the permissible methods of
taking and other means of effecting the
least practicable adverse impact on
marine mammal species or stocks and
their habitat (often referred to as
mitigation), as well as requirements
pertaining to the monitoring and
reporting of such taking. Under 50 CFR
217.186(e), issuance of an LOA shall be
based on a determination that the level
of taking will be consistent with the
findings made for the total taking
allowable under these regulations and a
determination that the amount of take
authorized under the LOA is of no more
than small numbers.
Summary of Request and Analysis
Fugro plans to conduct a 3D UltraUltra High Resolution (3DUUHR)
seismic survey in the Mississippi
Canyon Block 20 using two sparkers and
a multibeam echosounder. The objective
of the 3DUUHR survey is to provide
targeted subsurface data in the vicinity
of the well bay where gas in the shallow
section can be seen to attenuate high
frequency sub bottom data. Please see
Fugro’s application for additional detail.
Consistent with the preamble to the
final rule, the survey effort proposed by
Fugro in its LOA request was used to
develop LOA-specific take estimates
based on the acoustic exposure
modeling results described in the
preamble (86 FR 5322, 5398; January 19,
2021). In order to generate the
appropriate take number for
authorization, the following information
was considered: (1) Survey type; (2)
location (by modeling zone 1); (3)
number of days; and (4) season.2 The
acoustic exposure modeling performed
in support of the rule provides 24-hour
exposure estimates for each species,
specific to each modeled survey type in
each zone and season.
Exposure modeling results were
generated using the single airgun proxy.
Because those results assume use of a
90-in3 airgun, the take numbers
authorized through this LOA are
considered conservative (i.e., they likely
overestimate take) due to differences in
the sound source planned for use by
Fugro, as compared to those modeled
for the rule. The survey is planned to
occur for 10 days in Zone 5 during the
winter, which provides the basis for the
take estimation.
In this case, use of the exposure
modeling produces results that are
substantially smaller than average GOM
group sizes for multiple species 3 (i.e.,
estimated exposure values are less than
10 percent of assumed average group
size for the majority of species) (MazeFoley and Mullin, 2006). NMFS’ typical
practice in such a situation is to
increase exposure estimates to the
assumed average group size for a species
in order to ensure that, if the species is
encountered, exposures will not exceed
the authorized take number. However,
other relevant considerations here lead
to a determination that increasing the
estimated exposures to average group
sizes would likely lead to an
overestimate of actual potential take. In
this circumstance, the very short survey
duration and relatively small Level B
harassment isopleths produced through
use of the sparker (compared with an
airgun array) mean that it is unlikely
that certain species would be
encountered at all, much less that the
encounter would result in exposure of a
greater number of individuals than is
estimated through use of the exposure
modeling results. As a result, in this
case NMFS has not increased the
estimated exposure values to assumed
average group sizes in authorizing take.
Based on the results of our analysis,
NMFS has determined that the level of
taking expected for this survey and
authorized through the LOA is
consistent with the findings made for
the total taking allowable under the
regulations. See Table 1 in this
document and Table 9 of the rule (86 FR
5322; January 19, 2021).
Small Numbers Determination
Under the GOM rule, NMFS may not
authorize incidental take of marine
mammals in an LOA if it will exceed
‘‘small numbers.’’ In short, when an
acceptable estimate of the individual
marine mammals taken is available, if
the estimated number of individual
animals taken is up to, but not greater
than, one-third of the best available
abundance estimate, NMFS will
determine that the numbers of marine
mammals taken of a species or stock are
small. For more information please see
NMFS’ discussion of the MMPA’s small
numbers requirement provided in the
final rule (86 FR 5322, 5438; January 19,
2021).
The take numbers for authorization,
which are determined as described
above, are used by NMFS in making the
necessary small numbers
determinations, through comparison
with the best available abundance
estimates (see discussion at 86 FR 5322,
5391; January 19, 2021). For this
comparison, NMFS’ approach is to use
the maximum theoretical population,
determined through review of current
stock abundance reports (SAR;
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/
marine-mammal-protection/marinemammal-stock-assessments) and modelpredicted abundance information
(https://seamap.env.duke.edu/models/
Duke/GOM/). For the latter, for taxa
where a density surface model could be
produced, we use the maximum mean
seasonal (i.e., 3-month) abundance
prediction for purposes of comparison
as a precautionary smoothing of monthto-month fluctuations and in
consideration of a corresponding lack of
data in the literature regarding seasonal
distribution of marine mammals in the
GOM. Information supporting the small
numbers determinations is provided in
Table 1.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
TABLE 1—TAKE ANALYSIS
Authorized
take 1
Species
Rice’s whale 3 ..............................................................................................................................
1 For purposes of acoustic exposure modeling, the
GOM was divided into seven zones. Zone 1 is not
included in the geographic scope of the rule.
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2 For purposes of acoustic exposure modeling,
seasons include Winter (December–March) and
Summer (April–November).
3 These species include: Bottlenose dolphins,
short-finned pilot whales, Atlantic spotted dolphin,
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Abundance 2
0
51
Percent
abundance
n/a
Clymene dolphin, false killer whale, Fraser’s
dolphin, melon-headed whale, pantropical spotted
dolphin, pygmy killer whale, Risso’s dolphin,
rough-toothed dolphin, spinner dolphin, striped
dolphin.
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Notices
49001
TABLE 1—TAKE ANALYSIS—Continued
Authorized
take 1
Species
Kogia spp. ....................................................................................................................................
Beaked whales ............................................................................................................................
Bottlenose dolphin .......................................................................................................................
Short-finned pilot whale ...............................................................................................................
Sperm whale ................................................................................................................................
Atlantic spotted dolphin ...............................................................................................................
Clymene dolphin ..........................................................................................................................
False killer whale .........................................................................................................................
Fraser’s dolphin ...........................................................................................................................
Killer whale ..................................................................................................................................
Melon-headed whale ...................................................................................................................
Pantropical spotted dolphin .........................................................................................................
Pygmy killer whale .......................................................................................................................
Risso’s dolphin .............................................................................................................................
Rough-toothed dolphin ................................................................................................................
Spinner dolphin ............................................................................................................................
Striped dolphin .............................................................................................................................
2
158
16
2
8
6
8
2
1
0
6
34
1
2
2
9
3
Abundance 2
4,373
3,768
176,108
1,981
2,207
74,785
11,895
3,204
1,665
267
7,003
102,361
2,126
3,764
4,853
25,114
5,229
Percent
abundance
0.0
4.2
0.0
0.1
0.3
0.0
0.1
0.1
0.1
n/a
0.1
0.0
0.0
0.1
0.0
0.0
0.1
1 Scalar
ratios were not applied in this case due to brief survey duration.
abundance estimate. For most taxa, the best abundance estimate for purposes of comparison with take estimates is considered here to
be the model-predicted abundance (Roberts et al., 2016). For those taxa where a density surface model predicting abundance by month was
produced, the maximum mean seasonal abundance was used. For those taxa where abundance is not predicted by month, only mean annual
abundance is available. For the killer whale, the larger estimated SAR abundance estimate is used.
3 The final rule refers to the GOM Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni). These whales were subsequently described as a new species, Rice’s
whale (Balaenoptera ricei) (86 FR 47022; August 23, 2021).
2 Best
Based on the analysis contained
herein of Fugro’s proposed survey
activity described in its LOA
application and the anticipated take of
marine mammals, NMFS finds that
small numbers of marine mammals will
be taken relative to the affected species
or stock sizes (i.e., less than one-third of
the best available abundance estimate)
and therefore the taking is of no more
than small numbers.
Authorization
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO–C–2021–0036]
Performance Review Board
United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Commerce.
AGENCY:
Notice of revised board
members.
ACTION:
[FR Doc. 2021–18872 Filed 8–31–21; 8:45 am]
In conformance with the Civil
Service Reform Act of 1978, the United
States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) announces the appointment of
persons to serve as members of its
Performance Review Board (PRB). This
is an update to the recently published
Federal Register notice (published on
August 4, 2021), to reflect the changes
made to the board members serving in
the Chair and Acting General Counsel
positions due to the departure of Coke
Stewart, who was Performing the
Functions and Duties of the Deputy
Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Deputy
Director of the USPTO.
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
ADDRESSES:
NMFS has determined that the level
of taking for this LOA request is
consistent with the findings made for
the total taking allowable under the
incidental take regulations and that the
amount of take authorized under the
LOA is of no more than small numbers.
Accordingly, we have issued an LOA to
Taylor authorizing the take of marine
mammals incidental to its geophysical
survey activity, as described above.
Dated: August 27, 2021.
Catherine Marzin,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
SUMMARY:
Office of Human Resources,
USPTO, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA
22313–1450.
Lari
B. Washington, Acting Director, Human
Capital Management, USPTO, at 571–
272–5187.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
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17:09 Aug 31, 2021
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The
membership of the USPTO PRB is as
follows:
David L. Berdan, Chair, Performing
the Functions and Duties of the Deputy
Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Deputy
Director of the USPTO.
Frederick W. Steckler, Vice Chair,
Chief Administrative Officer, USPTO.
Andrew I. Faile, Acting Commissioner
for Patents, USPTO.
David S. Gooder, Commissioner for
Trademarks, USPTO.
Dennis J. Hoffman, Chief Financial
Officer, USPTO.
Henry J. Holcombe, Chief Information
Officer, USPTO.
David M. Shewchuk, Acting General
Counsel, USPTO.
Mary Critharis, Chief Policy Officer
and Director for International Affairs,
USPTO.
Gerard F. Rogers, Chief
Administrative Trademark Judge,
USPTO.
Scott R. Boalick, Chief Administrative
Patent Judge, USPTO.
Bismarck Myrick, Director of the
Office of Equal Employment
Opportunity and Diversity, USPTO.
Cara Duckworth, Acting Chief
Communications Officer, USPTO.
Alternates:
Richard Seidel, Deputy Commissioner
for Patents, USPTO.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 167 (Wednesday, September 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48999-49001]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18872]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB346]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in
the Gulf of Mexico
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of issuance of Letter of Authorization.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as
amended, its implementing regulations, and NMFS' MMPA Regulations for
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil
and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico, notification is hereby given
that a Letter of Authorization (LOA) has been issued to Fugro USA
Marine, Inc. (Fugro) for the take of marine mammals incidental to
geophysical survey activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
DATES: The LOA is effective from December 1, 2021, through November 30,
2022.
ADDRESSES: The LOA, LOA request, and supporting documentation are
available online at: www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey-activity-gulf-mexico. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call the
contact listed below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Corcoran, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
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 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 authorization for incidental takings 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.
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).
On January 19, 2021, we issued a final rule with regulations to
govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to
geophysical survey activities conducted by oil and gas industry
operators, and those persons authorized to conduct activities
[[Page 49000]]
on their behalf (collectively ``industry operators''), in Federal
waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) over the course of 5 years (86
FR 5322; January 19, 2021). The rule was based on our findings that the
total taking from the specified activities over the five-year period
will have a negligible impact on the affected species or stock(s) of
marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the
availability of those species or stocks for subsistence uses. The rule
became effective on April 19, 2021.
Our regulations at 50 CFR 217.180 et seq. allow for the issuance of
LOAs to industry operators for the incidental take of marine mammals
during geophysical survey activities and prescribe the permissible
methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable
adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat
(often referred to as mitigation), as well as requirements pertaining
to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. Under 50 CFR
217.186(e), issuance of an LOA shall be based on a determination that
the level of taking will be consistent with the findings made for the
total taking allowable under these regulations and a determination that
the amount of take authorized under the LOA is of no more than small
numbers.
Summary of Request and Analysis
Fugro plans to conduct a 3D Ultra-Ultra High Resolution (3DUUHR)
seismic survey in the Mississippi Canyon Block 20 using two sparkers
and a multibeam echosounder. The objective of the 3DUUHR survey is to
provide targeted subsurface data in the vicinity of the well bay where
gas in the shallow section can be seen to attenuate high frequency sub
bottom data. Please see Fugro's application for additional detail.
Consistent with the preamble to the final rule, the survey effort
proposed by Fugro in its LOA request was used to develop LOA-specific
take estimates based on the acoustic exposure modeling results
described in the preamble (86 FR 5322, 5398; January 19, 2021). In
order to generate the appropriate take number for authorization, the
following information was considered: (1) Survey type; (2) location (by
modeling zone \1\); (3) number of days; and (4) season.\2\ The acoustic
exposure modeling performed in support of the rule provides 24-hour
exposure estimates for each species, specific to each modeled survey
type in each zone and season.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For purposes of acoustic exposure modeling, the GOM was
divided into seven zones. Zone 1 is not included in the geographic
scope of the rule.
\2\ For purposes of acoustic exposure modeling, seasons include
Winter (December-March) and Summer (April-November).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exposure modeling results were generated using the single airgun
proxy. Because those results assume use of a 90-in\3\ airgun, the take
numbers authorized through this LOA are considered conservative (i.e.,
they likely overestimate take) due to differences in the sound source
planned for use by Fugro, as compared to those modeled for the rule.
The survey is planned to occur for 10 days in Zone 5 during the winter,
which provides the basis for the take estimation.
In this case, use of the exposure modeling produces results that
are substantially smaller than average GOM group sizes for multiple
species \3\ (i.e., estimated exposure values are less than 10 percent
of assumed average group size for the majority of species) (Maze-Foley
and Mullin, 2006). NMFS' typical practice in such a situation is to
increase exposure estimates to the assumed average group size for a
species in order to ensure that, if the species is encountered,
exposures will not exceed the authorized take number. However, other
relevant considerations here lead to a determination that increasing
the estimated exposures to average group sizes would likely lead to an
overestimate of actual potential take. In this circumstance, the very
short survey duration and relatively small Level B harassment isopleths
produced through use of the sparker (compared with an airgun array)
mean that it is unlikely that certain species would be encountered at
all, much less that the encounter would result in exposure of a greater
number of individuals than is estimated through use of the exposure
modeling results. As a result, in this case NMFS has not increased the
estimated exposure values to assumed average group sizes in authorizing
take.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ These species include: Bottlenose dolphins, short-finned
pilot whales, Atlantic spotted dolphin, Clymene dolphin, false
killer whale, Fraser's dolphin, melon-headed whale, pantropical
spotted dolphin, pygmy killer whale, Risso's dolphin, rough-toothed
dolphin, spinner dolphin, striped dolphin.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on the results of our analysis, NMFS has determined that the
level of taking expected for this survey and authorized through the LOA
is consistent with the findings made for the total taking allowable
under the regulations. See Table 1 in this document and Table 9 of the
rule (86 FR 5322; January 19, 2021).
Small Numbers Determination
Under the GOM rule, NMFS may not authorize incidental take of
marine mammals in an LOA if it will exceed ``small numbers.'' In short,
when an acceptable estimate of the individual marine mammals taken is
available, if the estimated number of individual animals taken is up
to, but not greater than, one-third of the best available abundance
estimate, NMFS will determine that the numbers of marine mammals taken
of a species or stock are small. For more information please see NMFS'
discussion of the MMPA's small numbers requirement provided in the
final rule (86 FR 5322, 5438; January 19, 2021).
The take numbers for authorization, which are determined as
described above, are used by NMFS in making the necessary small numbers
determinations, through comparison with the best available abundance
estimates (see discussion at 86 FR 5322, 5391; January 19, 2021). For
this comparison, NMFS' approach is to use the maximum theoretical
population, determined through review of current stock abundance
reports (SAR; www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments) and model-predicted abundance
information (https://seamap.env.duke.edu/models/Duke/GOM/). For the
latter, for taxa where a density surface model could be produced, we
use the maximum mean seasonal (i.e., 3-month) abundance prediction for
purposes of comparison as a precautionary smoothing of month-to-month
fluctuations and in consideration of a corresponding lack of data in
the literature regarding seasonal distribution of marine mammals in the
GOM. Information supporting the small numbers determinations is
provided in Table 1.
Table 1--Take Analysis
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Authorized Percent
Species take \1\ Abundance \2\ abundance
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Rice's whale \3\................................................ 0 51 n/a
[[Page 49001]]
Kogia spp....................................................... 2 4,373 0.0
Beaked whales................................................... 158 3,768 4.2
Bottlenose dolphin.............................................. 16 176,108 0.0
Short-finned pilot whale........................................ 2 1,981 0.1
Sperm whale..................................................... 8 2,207 0.3
Atlantic spotted dolphin........................................ 6 74,785 0.0
Clymene dolphin................................................. 8 11,895 0.1
False killer whale.............................................. 2 3,204 0.1
Fraser's dolphin................................................ 1 1,665 0.1
Killer whale.................................................... 0 267 n/a
Melon-headed whale.............................................. 6 7,003 0.1
Pantropical spotted dolphin..................................... 34 102,361 0.0
Pygmy killer whale.............................................. 1 2,126 0.0
Risso's dolphin................................................. 2 3,764 0.1
Rough-toothed dolphin........................................... 2 4,853 0.0
Spinner dolphin................................................. 9 25,114 0.0
Striped dolphin................................................. 3 5,229 0.1
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\1\ Scalar ratios were not applied in this case due to brief survey duration.
\2\ Best abundance estimate. For most taxa, the best abundance estimate for purposes of comparison with take
estimates is considered here to be the model-predicted abundance (Roberts et al., 2016). For those taxa where
a density surface model predicting abundance by month was produced, the maximum mean seasonal abundance was
used. For those taxa where abundance is not predicted by month, only mean annual abundance is available. For
the killer whale, the larger estimated SAR abundance estimate is used.
\3\ The final rule refers to the GOM Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni). These whales were subsequently
described as a new species, Rice's whale (Balaenoptera ricei) (86 FR 47022; August 23, 2021).
Based on the analysis contained herein of Fugro's proposed survey
activity described in its LOA application and the anticipated take of
marine mammals, NMFS finds that small numbers of marine mammals will be
taken relative to the affected species or stock sizes (i.e., less than
one-third of the best available abundance estimate) and therefore the
taking is of no more than small numbers.
Authorization
NMFS has determined that the level of taking for this LOA request
is consistent with the findings made for the total taking allowable
under the incidental take regulations and that the amount of take
authorized under the LOA is of no more than small numbers. Accordingly,
we have issued an LOA to Taylor authorizing the take of marine mammals
incidental to its geophysical survey activity, as described above.
Dated: August 27, 2021.
Catherine Marzin,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-18872 Filed 8-31-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
