Notice2025-05785
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in the Gulf of America (Formerly Gulf of Mexico)
Primary source
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Published
April 4, 2025
Effective
December 31, 2025
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 America, originally published as "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 the Letter of Authorization (LOA) issued to WesternGeco for the take of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in the Gulf of America (GOA).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 64 (Friday, April 4, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 64 (Friday, April 4, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14789-14791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05785]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE808]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Geophysical Surveys Related to Oil and Gas Activities in
the Gulf of America (Formerly Gulf of Mexico)
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; 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 America, originally published as
``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 the Letter of Authorization (LOA) issued
to WesternGeco for the take of marine mammals incidental to geophysical
survey activity in the Gulf of America (GOA).
DATES: The LOA is effective through December 31, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The LOA, LOA request, and supporting documentation are
available online at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey-activity-gulf-mexico">https://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: Rachel Wachtendonk, 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 U.S. waters of the GOA
\1\ 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
[[Page 14790]]
stocks for subsistence uses, and became effective on April 19, 2021.
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\1\ Pursuant to Executive Order 14172, ``Restoring Names That
Honor American Greatness,'' and Department of the Interior
Secretarial Order 3423, ``The Gulf of America,'' the body of water
formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico is now called the Gulf of
America. Accordingly, this Federal Register Notice hereafter refers
to the Gulf of America.
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The 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.
NMFS subsequently discovered that the 2021 rule was based on
erroneous take estimates. We conducted another rulemaking using correct
take estimates and other newly available and pertinent information
relevant to the analyses supporting some of the findings in the 2021
final rule and the taking allowable under the regulations. We issued a
final rule in April 2024, effective May 24, 2024 (89 FR 31488, April
24, 2024).
The 2024 final rule made no changes to the specified activities or
the specified geographical region in which those activities would be
conducted, nor to the original 5-year period of effectiveness. In
consideration of the new information, the 2024 rule presented new
analyses supporting affirmance of the negligible impact determinations
for all species, and affirmed that the existing regulations, which
contain mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements, are
consistent with the ``least practicable adverse impact'' standard of
the MMPA.
NMFS issued a LOA to WesternGeco on March 7, 2025, for the take of
marine mammals incidental to a three-dimensional (3D) ocean bottom node
(OBN) survey over 240 lease blocks in the Green Canyon and Walker Ridge
areas, effective March 7, 2025 through December 31, 2025. Please see
the Federal Register notice of issuance (90 FR 11947, March 13, 2025)
for additional detail regarding the LOA and the survey activity.
On March 20, 2025, WesternGeco informed NMFS that its planned
survey area had shifted westward and, accordingly, they have requested
a modification to the LOA to reflect the new survey area. No survey
activity has begun. The original survey plan included 80 days of sound
source operation in Zone 7 and 20 days in Zone 5. The updated survey
plan remains at 100 total days of sound source operation, with the
distribution shifted to include 57 days in Zone 7, 31 days in Zone 5,
and 12 days in Zone 6. The monthly distribution of survey days is not
known in advance, though we assume that the planned 100 days of source
operation would occur contiguously. Take estimates for each species are
based on the time period that produces the greatest value and have been
updated based on the revised survey plan. There are no other changes to
the planned survey.
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 6 of the
rule (89 FR 31488, April 24, 2024).
Small Numbers Determination
Under the 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 (see 89 FR 31535, May 24, 2024). For
more information please see NMFS' discussion of small numbers in the
2021 final rule (86 FR 5438, January 19, 2021).
The take numbers for authorization are determined as described in
the Federal Register notice of issuance (90 FR 11947, March 13, 2025).
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 1 day (see 86 FR 5404, January 19, 2021). The output of this
scaling, where appropriate, is incorporated into adjusted total take
estimates that are 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 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="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments">https://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>).
Information supporting the small numbers determinations is provided in
table 1.
Table 1--Take Analysis
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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..................................... 698 295.4 3,007 9.8
Kogia spp....................................... \3\ 394 118.3 980 14.7
Beaked whales................................... 1,205 121.7 803 15.2
Rough-toothed dolphin........................... 1,704 489.2 4,853 10.1
Bottlenose dolphin.............................. 1,323 379.8 165,125 0.2
Clymene dolphin................................. 2,018 579.1 4,619 12.5
Atlantic spotted dolphin........................ 928 266.4 21,506 1.2
Pantropical spotted dolphin..................... 19,948 5,724.9 67,225 8.5
Spinner dolphin................................. 284 81.6 5,548 1.5
Striped dolphin................................. 4,419 1,268.1 5,634 22.5
Fraser's dolphin................................ 707 203.0 1,665 12.2
Risso's dolphin................................. 450 132.8 1,974 6.7
Blackfish \4\................................... 4,324 1,275.5 6,113 20.9
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Short-finned pilot whale........................ 768 226.5 2,741 8.3
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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 (Garrison et al., 2023). For Rice's whale,
Atlantic spotted dolphin, and Risso's dolphin, the larger estimated SAR abundance estimate is used.
\3\ Includes 26 takes by Level A harassment and 368 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.
\4\ The ``blackfish'' guild includes melon-headed whales, false killer whales, pygmy killer whales, and killer
whales.
Based on the analysis contained herein of WesternGeco's proposed
survey activity described in its LOA application, as subsequently
modified by WesternGeco, 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 a modification to the LOA to WesternGeco authorizing the
take of marine mammals incidental to its geophysical survey activity,
as described above.
Dated: March 31, 2025.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-05785 Filed 4-3-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 4, 2025.
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