Federal Register: March 23, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 55)NoticesPage 13839From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID:fr23mr98-42

[Page 13839]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

I.D. 031198BIncidental Take of Marine Mammals; Taking of Ringed Seals Incidental to On-Ice Seismic Activities

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of issuance of letters of authorization.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended and with implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that letters of authorization to take ringed and bearded seals incidental to on-ice seismic operations in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska were issued on March 16, 1998, to BP Exploration, Western Geophysical, and Northern Geophysical of America, all of Anchorage, AK.

DATES: These letters of authorization are effective from March 16, 1998, through May 31, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The applications and letters are available for review in the following offices: Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, and Western Alaska Field Office, NMFS, 701 C Street, Anchorage, AK 99513.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth R. Hollingshead, NMFS, (301) 713-2055 or Brad Smith, Western Alaska Field Office, NMFS, (907) 271- 5006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs NMFS to allow, on 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 by NMFS and regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term ``taking'' means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt, capture or kill marine mammals.

Permission may be granted for periods up to 5 years if NMFS finds, after notification and opportunity for public comment, that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) of marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses. In addition, NMFS must prescribe regulations that include permissible methods of taking and other means effecting the least practicable adverse impact on the species and its habitat and on the availability of the species for subsistence uses, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance. The regulations must include requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. Regulations governing the taking of ringed and bearded seals incidental to on-ice seismic surveys were published on February 2, 1998 (63 FR 5277), and remain in effect until December 31, 2002.

Summary of Request

NMFS received requests for letters of authorization on February 24, 1998, from Northern Geophysical; February 26, 1998, from BP Exploration (Alaska); and May 20, 1997 (as amended on December 22, 1997, and March 3, 1998), from Western Geophysical. These letters requested a take by harassment of a small number of ringed and bearded seals incidental to the described activity.

Issuance of these letters of authorization are based on findings that the total takings by this activity will have a negligible impact on the ringed and bearded seal stocks of the Western Beaufort Sea and that the applicants have met the requirements contained in the implementing regulations.

Dated: March 16, 1998. Patricia A. Montanio, Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

FR Doc. 98-7458Filed3-20-98; 8:45 amBILLING CODE 3510-22-F