90 FR 155 pgs. 39183-39184 - Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Southwest Fisheries Science Center Fisheries Research
Type: NOTICEVolume: 90Number: 155Pages: 39183 - 39184
Pages: 39183, 39184Docket number: [RTID 0648-XF102]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2025-15483 Filed 8-13-25; 8:45 am]
Agency: Commerce Department
Sub Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF102]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Southwest Fisheries Science Center Fisheries Research
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.
SUMMARY:
NMFS has received a request from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to conducting fisheries research over the course of 5 years from the date of issuance. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of the SWFSC'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 SWFSC's application and request.
DATES:
Comments and information must be received no later than September 15, 2025.
ADDRESSES:
Comments on the applications should be addressed to the 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 ITP.jacobus@noaa.gov.
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:
Kristy Jacobus, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401. An electronic copy of the SWFSC'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
[top] On June 12, 2025, NMFS received an application from the SWFSC requesting authorization for take of marine mammals incidental to fisheries research conducted by SWFSC. After the SWFSC responded to our questions and submitted a revised application, we determined the application was adequate and complete on July 29, 2025. The requested regulations would be valid for 5 years, from January 15, 2026 through January 15, 2031. The SWFSC plans to conduct fisheries research surveys in the California Current Research Area (off of the U.S. west coast) and the Antarctic Research Area (in the Antarctic Scotia Sea). It is possible that marine mammals may interact with fishing gear ( e.g., trawl nets, purse seines, longlines) used in the SWFSC's research, resulting in injury, serious injury, or mortality. In addition, Level B harassment due to physical disturbance of pinnipeds is possible due to the presence of research vessels in the Antarctic research area. Because the specified activities have the potential to take marine mammals present within these action areas, SWFSC requests authorization to take multiple species of
The requested regulations would be the third incidental take regulations issued to the SWFSC, following regulations in place from 2021 to 2026. SWFSC has complied with all requirements of the previously issued Letters of Authorization and has not exceeded the authorized take numbers. Monitoring reports submitted by SWFSC are available online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities.
Specified Activities
The Federal Government has a responsibility to conserve and protect living marine resources in U.S. Federal waters and has also entered into a number of international agreements and treaties related to the management of living marine resources in international waters outside of the United States. NOAA has the primary responsibility for managing marine fin and shellfish species and their habitats, with that responsibility delegated within NOAA to NMFS.
In order to direct and coordinate the collection of scientific information needed to make informed management decisions, Congress created six Regional Fisheries Science Centers, each a distinct organizational entity and the scientific focal point within NMFS for region-based Federal fisheries-related research. This research is aimed at monitoring fish stock recruitment, abundance, survival and biological rates, geographic distribution of species and stocks, ecosystem process changes, and marine ecological research. The SWFSC is the research arm of NMFS in the Southwest Region. The SWFSC conducts research and provides scientific advice to manage fisheries and conserve protected species in three geographic research areas: The California Current Research Area (along the U.S. West Coast), the Eastern Tropical Pacific Research Area (ETPRA) (throughout the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean), and the Antarctic Research Area (in the Scotia Sea area off Antarctica). However, no research activity is planned for the ETPRA during the next five years, and this research area is not included in the scope of the SWFSC's current request. The SWFSC provides scientific information to support the Pacific Fishery Management Council and numerous other domestic and international fisheries management organizations.
The SWFSC collects a wide array of information necessary to evaluate the status of exploited fishery resources and the marine environment. SWFSC scientists conduct fishery-independent research onboard NOAA-owned and operated vessels or on chartered vessels. A few surveys are conducted onboard commercial fishing vessels, but the SWFSC designs and executes the studies and funds vessel time. The gear types used fall into several categories: trawl gear used at various levels in the water column, hook and line gear, seine nets, and other gear. Of research gear used by SWFSC, only trawl, hook and line gear, and seine nets are likely to interact with marine mammals.
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and comments concerning the SWFSC'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 the SWFSC, if appropriate.
Dated: August 12, 2025.
Tanya Dobrzynski,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-15483 Filed 8-13-25; 8:45 am]
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