Notice2021-25784
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of Mexico
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 26, 2021
Effective
December 1, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
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 W&T Offshore Inc. (W&T) and its designees for the take of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 225 (Friday, November 26, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 225 (Friday, November 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67449-67451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25784]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XB597]
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.
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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 W&T Offshore
Inc. (W&T) and its designees 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 July 1,
2022.
ADDRESSES: The LOA, LOA request, and supporting documentation are
available online at: <a href="http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey-activity-gulf-mexico">www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey-activity-gulf-mexico</a>. 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 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 5-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
As the designee of W&T, Echo plans conduct an archaeological and
geohazards survey in the Eugene Island Area, Block EI389 and portions
of Blocks EI385 and EI386, and in the Ewing Bank Area, in the E/2
portion of Block EW979. Echo plans to simultaneously use a single, 20-
cubic inch airgun, as well as a suite of high-resolution geophysical
(HRG) acoustic sources aboard an autonomous underwater vehicle. Please
see W&T and Echo's application for additional detail.
Consistent with the preamble to the final rule, the survey effort
proposed by W&T and Echo in their LOA request was used to develop LOA-
specific take estimates based on the acoustic exposure modeling results
described in
[[Page 67450]]
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.
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\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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The survey is planned to occur for 2.5 days over a span of 5-7
days. As sources will be used simultaneously, exposure modeling results
were generated using the single airgun proxy as it produced the greater
value for each species (as opposed to the HRG 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 Echo, as compared to those modeled for the rule. The geographic
distribution of survey effort is not known precisely, but would occur
for 3 days in Zones 2 and 5. Therefore, the take estimates for each
species are based on the zone that has the greater value for the
species (i.e., Zone 2 or 5). Similarly, as the survey could potentially
occur in either season, the take estimates for each species are also
based on the season that has the greater value for the species (i.e.,
winter or summer).
In this case, use of the exposure modeling produces results that
are substantially smaller than average GOM group sizes for multiple
species (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 a single airgun (compared with an airgun array)
means 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 notice 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 assessment
reports (SAR; <a href="http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments">www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments</a>) and model-predicted abundance
information (<a href="https://seamap.env.duke.edu/models/Duke/GOM/">https://seamap.env.duke.edu/models/Duke/GOM/</a>). 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 0.0
Kogia sp........................................................ 1 4,373 0.0
Beaked whales................................................... 47 3,768 1.3
Bottlenose dolphin.............................................. 93 176,108 0.1
Short-finned pilot whale........................................ 0 1,981 0.0
Sperm whale..................................................... 2 2,207 0.1
Atlantic spotted dolphin........................................ 20 74,785 0.0
Clymene dolphin................................................. 2 11,895 0.0
False killer whale.............................................. 1 3,204 0.0
Fraser's dolphin................................................ 0 1,665 0.0
Killer whale.................................................... 0 267 0.0
Melon-headed whale.............................................. 2 7,003 0.0
Pantropical spotted dolphin..................................... 10 102,361 0.0
Pygmy killer whale.............................................. 0 2,126 0.0
Risso's dolphin................................................. 1 3,764 0.0
Rough-toothed dolphin........................................... 2 4,853 0.0
Spinner dolphin................................................. 3 25,114 0.0
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Striped dolphin................................................. 1 5,229 0.0
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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) (Rosel et al., 2021).
Based on the analysis contained herein of W&T and Echo'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 W&T authorizing the take of marine mammals
incidental to its geophysical survey activity, as described above.
Dated: November 22, 2021.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-25784 Filed 11-24-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 26, 2021.
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