Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico, 12120-12122 [2022-04449]
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 42 / Thursday, March 3, 2022 / Notices
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Tracey L. Thompson,
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[FR Doc. 2022–04418 Filed 3–2–22; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
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ACTION:
[FR Doc. 2022–04417 Filed 3–2–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
[RTID 0648–XB849]
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
AGENCY:
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[RTID 0648–XB819]
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 modified 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 NMFS
has modified a Letter of Authorization
(LOA) issued to Shell Offshore Inc.
(Shell) on December 2, 2021, for the take
of marine mammals incidental to
geophysical survey activity in the Gulf
of Mexico.
DATES: The modified LOA is effective
through August 31, 2022.
ADDRESSES: The modified LOA and
modification request, original LOA and
LOA request, and supporting
documentation are available online at:
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/
incidental-take-authorization-oil-andgas-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: Ben
Laws, Office of Protected Resources,
NMFS, (301) 427–8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
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
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 42 / Thursday, March 3, 2022 / Notices
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
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). 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
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18:23 Mar 02, 2022
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authorized under the LOA is of no more
than small numbers.
Summary of Request and Analysis
NMFS issued an LOA to Shell on
December 2, 2021, effective through
August 31, 2022, for the take of marine
mammals incidental to a 3D ocean
bottom node (OBN) survey of
Mississippi Canyon Lease Block 809
and portions of the surrounding
approximately 143 lease blocks in the
Ursa development area (see Section F in
Shell’s application). Shell initially
anticipated conducting a total of 45 days
of sound source operation over the
period of LOA effectiveness (over a total
survey period of 61 days). The survey
activity itself is permitted under Bureau
of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)
permit L21–036. Please see the Federal
Register notice of issuance (86 FR
69622; December 8, 2021) for additional
detail regarding the LOA and the survey
activity.
Since issuance of the LOA, no survey
work has occurred under that LOA.
Shell has been conducting survey
activity in the same lease block areas
under its existing BOEM permit L20–
029, which was issued during a
litigation settlement agreement prior to
NMFS’ MMPA rule becoming effective.
As a result of unforeseen delays in
survey effort under BOEM permit L20–
029, Shell now expects that it will be
necessary to shift some of that effort to
the subsequent period (under BOEM
permit L21–036) addressed through
NMFS’ December 2, 2021, LOA, and has
requested modification of the LOA
accordingly. Thus Shell’s revised
estimate of survey effort for the LOA
includes 63 days of sound source
operation rather than 45. There are no
other changes to Shell’s planned
activity.
Consistent with the preamble to the
final rule, the survey effort proposed by
Shell in its request for a modification to
the existing LOA 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,
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).
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12121
specific to each modeled survey type in
each zone and season. Of the planned
63 days of sound source operation, Shell
indicates that 28 days would occur in
winter and 35 days in summer.
Previously, the seasonal distribution of
survey days was considered unknown
and the take estimates for each species
were based on the season that produced
the greater value. There are no other
changes to the information used in
producing the take estimates. NMFS’
prior assumptions regarding the
likelihood of encounter for Rice’s
whales 3 and killer whales remain valid
and are incorporated by reference here
(86 FR 69622; December 8, 2021). Please
see the original notice of issuance for
the LOA for additional detail regarding
the assumptions made in generating the
take estimates and regarding the
aforementioned species.
Updated take numbers for the
modified LOA are indicated below (see
Table 1). Based on the results of our
analysis, NMFS has determined that the
level of taking authorized through the
LOA is consistent with the findings
made for the total taking allowable
under the regulations. See Table 1 in
this notice and Table 9 of the rule.
Small Numbers Determinations
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
are determined as described above in
the Summary of Request and Analysis
section. Subsequently, the total
incidents of harassment for each species
are multiplied by scalar ratios to
produce a derived product that better
reflects the number of individuals likely
to be taken within a survey (as
compared to the total number of
instances of take), accounting for the
likelihood that some individual marine
mammals may be taken on more than
one day (see 86 FR 5322, 5404; January
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) (Rosel et al., 2021).
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 42 / Thursday, March 3, 2022 / Notices
19, 2021). The output of this scaling,
where appropriate, is incorporated into
an adjusted total take estimate that is
the basis for NMFS’ small numbers
determinations, as depicted in Table 1.
This product is 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 assessment 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.
TABLE 1—TAKE ANALYSIS, URSA LOA
Authorized
take
Species
Rice’s whale .....................................................................................................
Sperm whale ....................................................................................................
Kogia spp .........................................................................................................
Beaked whales ................................................................................................
Rough-toothed dolphin ....................................................................................
Bottlenose dolphin ...........................................................................................
Clymene dolphin ..............................................................................................
Atlantic spotted dolphin ...................................................................................
Pantropical spotted dolphin .............................................................................
Spinner dolphin ................................................................................................
Striped dolphin .................................................................................................
Fraser’s dolphin ...............................................................................................
Risso’s dolphin .................................................................................................
Melon-headed whale .......................................................................................
Pygmy killer whale ...........................................................................................
False killer whale .............................................................................................
Killer whale ......................................................................................................
Short-finned pilot whale ...................................................................................
0
1,650
3 611
7,197
1,237
5,760
3,439
2,339
15,608
4,182
1,343
394
1,010
2,306
538
856
7
667
Scaled take 1
n/a
698.1
218.5
726.9
354.9
1,653.1
987.1
671.3
4,479.4
1,200.3
385.5
113.1
297.9
680.4
158.7
252.5
n/a
196.8
Abundance 2
51
2,207
4,373
3,768
4,853
176,108
11,895
74,785
102,361
25,114
5,229
1,665
3,764
7,003
2,126
3,204
267
1,981
Percent
abundance
n/a
31.6
5.0
19.3
7.3
0.9
8.3
0.9
4.4
4.8
7.4
6.8
7.9
9.7
7.5
7.9
2.6
9.9
1 Scalar ratios were applied to ‘‘Authorized Take’’ values as described at 86 FR 5322, 5404 (January 19, 2021) to derive scaled take numbers
shown here.
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 Includes 33 takes by Level A harassment and 578 takes by Level B harassment. Scalar ratio is applied to takes by Level B harassment only;
small numbers determination made on basis of scaled Level B harassment take plus authorized Level A harassment take.
Based on the analysis contained
herein of Shell’s proposed survey
activity described in its LOA
modification request 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 and therefore is of
no more than small numbers.
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Authorization
18:23 Mar 02, 2022
[FR Doc. 2022–04449 Filed 3–2–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
NMFS has determined that the level
of taking for the LOA modification
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 modified LOA is of no more
than small numbers. NMFS has
modified the LOA to Shell authorizing
the take of marine mammals incidental
to its planned survey activity, for the
reasons described above.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
Dated: February 25, 2022.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
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Programmatic Environmental
Assessment and Draft Finding of No
Significant Impact Regarding Iron
Dome Defense System—Army
Department of the Army,
Defense (DoD).
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
AGENCY:
The Department of the Army
(Army) announces the availability of a
Programmatic Environmental
Assessment (PEA) and a Draft Finding
of No Significant Impact (FONSI)
regarding the proposed fielding of two
SUMMARY:
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Iron Dome Defense System—Army
(IDDS–A) batteries. In accordance with
the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), the PEA analyzes the potential
environmental impact of IDDS–A at
each candidate-installation. That is, the
PEA analyzes the potential
environmental impact of the additional
soldiers, materiel, and training that are
required to field IDDS–A. The Proposed
Action would enhance the defensive
capability of fixed and semi-fixed assets
against aerial threats.
DATES: Comments must be received by
April 4, 2022 to be considered in
finalizing the PEA and Draft FONSI.
ADDRESSES: Please mail comments to
U.S. Army Environmental Command,
ATTN: IDDS–A Public Comments, 2455
Reynolds Road, Mail Stop 112, JBSAFort Sam Houston, TX 78234–7588, or
email comments to usarmy.jbsa.imcomaec.mbx.nepa@army.mil with ‘‘IDDS–A
Public Comments’’ in the subject line.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Cathy Kropp, U.S. Army Environmental
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 42 (Thursday, March 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12120-12122]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04449]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB819]
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 modified 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 NMFS has modified a Letter of Authorization (LOA) issued to Shell
Offshore Inc. (Shell) on December 2, 2021, for the take of marine
mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in the Gulf of
Mexico.
DATES: The modified LOA is effective through August 31, 2022.
ADDRESSES: The modified LOA and modification request, original LOA and
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: Ben Laws, 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
[[Page 12121]]
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 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). 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
NMFS issued an LOA to Shell on December 2, 2021, effective through
August 31, 2022, for the take of marine mammals incidental to a 3D
ocean bottom node (OBN) survey of Mississippi Canyon Lease Block 809
and portions of the surrounding approximately 143 lease blocks in the
Ursa development area (see Section F in Shell's application). Shell
initially anticipated conducting a total of 45 days of sound source
operation over the period of LOA effectiveness (over a total survey
period of 61 days). The survey activity itself is permitted under
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) permit L21-036. Please see the
Federal Register notice of issuance (86 FR 69622; December 8, 2021) for
additional detail regarding the LOA and the survey activity.
Since issuance of the LOA, no survey work has occurred under that
LOA. Shell has been conducting survey activity in the same lease block
areas under its existing BOEM permit L20-029, which was issued during a
litigation settlement agreement prior to NMFS' MMPA rule becoming
effective. As a result of unforeseen delays in survey effort under BOEM
permit L20-029, Shell now expects that it will be necessary to shift
some of that effort to the subsequent period (under BOEM permit L21-
036) addressed through NMFS' December 2, 2021, LOA, and has requested
modification of the LOA accordingly. Thus Shell's revised estimate of
survey effort for the LOA includes 63 days of sound source operation
rather than 45. There are no other changes to Shell's planned activity.
Consistent with the preamble to the final rule, the survey effort
proposed by Shell in its request for a modification to the existing LOA
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. Of the planned 63
days of sound source operation, Shell indicates that 28 days would
occur in winter and 35 days in summer. Previously, the seasonal
distribution of survey days was considered unknown and the take
estimates for each species were based on the season that produced the
greater value. There are no other changes to the information used in
producing the take estimates. NMFS' prior assumptions regarding the
likelihood of encounter for Rice's whales \3\ and killer whales remain
valid and are incorporated by reference here (86 FR 69622; December 8,
2021). Please see the original notice of issuance for the LOA for
additional detail regarding the assumptions made in generating the take
estimates and regarding the aforementioned species.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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).
\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) (Rosel et al., 2021).
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Updated take numbers for the modified LOA are indicated below (see
Table 1). Based on the results of our analysis, NMFS has determined
that the level of taking authorized through the LOA is consistent with
the findings made for the total taking allowable under the regulations.
See Table 1 in this notice and Table 9 of the rule.
Small Numbers Determinations
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 are determined as described
above in the Summary of Request and Analysis section. Subsequently, the
total incidents of harassment for each species are multiplied by scalar
ratios to produce a derived product that better reflects the number of
individuals likely to be taken within a survey (as compared to the
total number of instances of take), accounting for the likelihood that
some individual marine mammals may be taken on more than one day (see
86 FR 5322, 5404; January
[[Page 12122]]
19, 2021). The output of this scaling, where appropriate, is
incorporated into an adjusted total take estimate that is the basis for
NMFS' small numbers determinations, as depicted in Table 1.
This product is 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 assessment
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, Ursa LOA
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Authorized Scaled take Percent
Species take \1\ Abundance \2\ abundance
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Rice's whale.................................... 0 n/a 51 n/a
Sperm whale..................................... 1,650 698.1 2,207 31.6
Kogia spp....................................... \3\ 611 218.5 4,373 5.0
Beaked whales................................... 7,197 726.9 3,768 19.3
Rough-toothed dolphin........................... 1,237 354.9 4,853 7.3
Bottlenose dolphin.............................. 5,760 1,653.1 176,108 0.9
Clymene dolphin................................. 3,439 987.1 11,895 8.3
Atlantic spotted dolphin........................ 2,339 671.3 74,785 0.9
Pantropical spotted dolphin..................... 15,608 4,479.4 102,361 4.4
Spinner dolphin................................. 4,182 1,200.3 25,114 4.8
Striped dolphin................................. 1,343 385.5 5,229 7.4
Fraser's dolphin................................ 394 113.1 1,665 6.8
Risso's dolphin................................. 1,010 297.9 3,764 7.9
Melon-headed whale.............................. 2,306 680.4 7,003 9.7
Pygmy killer whale.............................. 538 158.7 2,126 7.5
False killer whale.............................. 856 252.5 3,204 7.9
Killer whale.................................... 7 n/a 267 2.6
Short-finned pilot whale........................ 667 196.8 1,981 9.9
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\1\ Scalar ratios were applied to ``Authorized Take'' values as described at 86 FR 5322, 5404 (January 19, 2021)
to derive scaled take numbers shown here.
\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\ Includes 33 takes by Level A harassment and 578 takes by Level B harassment. Scalar ratio is applied to
takes by Level B harassment only; small numbers determination made on basis of scaled Level B harassment take
plus authorized Level A harassment take.
Based on the analysis contained herein of Shell's proposed survey
activity described in its LOA modification request 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 and
therefore is of no more than small numbers.
Authorization
NMFS has determined that the level of taking for the LOA
modification 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 modified LOA is of no more than
small numbers. NMFS has modified the LOA to Shell authorizing the take
of marine mammals incidental to its planned survey activity, for the
reasons described above.
Dated: February 25, 2022.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-04449 Filed 3-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
