Notice2025-09021
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
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
May 20, 2025
Effective
August 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 (GOA), 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 expiration date of a Letter of Authorization (LOA) issued to Shell Offshore Inc. (Shell) for the taking of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in the GOA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 96 (Tuesday, May 20, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 96 (Tuesday, May 20, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21468-21470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09021]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XE805]
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 of modification to expiration date 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 (GOA), 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 expiration date of a Letter of
Authorization (LOA) issued to Shell Offshore Inc. (Shell) for the
taking of marine mammals incidental to geophysical survey activity in
the GOA.
DATES: This LOA is effective through August 31, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The LOA, LOA request, and supporting documentation are
available online at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/marine-mammal-protection/issued-letters-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/marine-mammal-protection/issued-letters-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey</a>. In case of problems accessing these documents,
please call the contact listed below (FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenna Harlacher, 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
stocks for subsistence uses. The rule 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
[[Page 21469]]
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'' (LPAI)
standard of the MMPA.
NMFS issued a LOA to Shell on March 4, 2024, for the take of marine
mammals incidental to a four-dimensional (4D) ocean bottom node survey
over the Ursa Development, Mississippi Canyon Lease Block 809, and the
surrounding lease blocks, effective July 1, 2024, through June 30,
2025. Please see the Federal Register notice of issuance (89 FR 17419,
March 11, 2024) for additional detail regarding the LOA and the survey
activity.
Shell has requested that the June 30, 2025, expiration date be
extended to August 31, 2025, due to weather delays causing changes in
survey timing. Since we issued the LOA to Shell, we have updated the
final rule to include corrected take estimates and new information as
discussed above; therefore, we have updated the authorized take numbers
accordingly based on this new information. There are no changes to the
planned survey as described in the previous notice of issuance (89 FR
17419, March 11, 2024), including the planned location and duration of
the survey.
As discussed in the previous notice of issuance (89 FR 17419, March
11, 2024), no 4D ocean bottom node (OBN) surveys were included in the
modeled survey types, thus the coil proxy was selected. Shell plans to
cover approximately 15.7 square kilometers (km\2\) per day compared to
the 144 km\2\ in the coil proxy, and although Shell is not proposing to
perform a survey using the coil geometry, the coil proxy is most
representative of the effort planned by Shell in terms of predicted
Level B harassment exposures. Additionally, Shell anticipates using a
single dual source vessel, towing airgun array sources consisting of 32
elements, with a total volume of 5,110 cubic inches (in\3\; 0.084 cubic
meters (m\3\)). Therefore, the 5,110 in\3\ proxy was selected.
The survey plan includes approximately 80 days, including 63 days
of sound source operation in Zone 5. The monthly distribution of survey
days is not known in advance, though we assume that the planned 63 days
of source operation will occur contiguously. Take estimates for each
species are based on the time period that produces the greatest value.
For the Rice's whale, recent survey data, sightings, and acoustic
data support Rice's whale occurrence in waters throughout the GOA
between approximately 100 m and 400 m depth along the continental shelf
break, and associated habitat-based density modeling has identified
similar habitat (i.e., approximately 100 to 400 m water depths along
the continental shelf break) as being Rice's whale habitat (Garrison et
al., 2023; Soldevilla et al., 2022, 2024). NMFS' 2024 final rule
provided detailed discussion regarding Rice's whale habitat (see, e.g.,
89 FR 31508, 31519).
Shell's planned activities will overlap this depth range, with
approximately 0.8 percent of the area expected to be ensonified by the
survey above root-mean-squared pressure received levels (RMS SPL) of
160 decibels (dB) (referenced to 1 micropascal (re 1 [mu]Pa))
overlapping the 100-400 m isobaths. Therefore, there is some reasonable
potential for take of Rice's whale to occur in association with this
survey. The generic acoustic exposure modeling results in one take of
Rice's whales and we have rounded that up to a group size, authorizing
two Rice's whale takes.
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
above. Subsequently, the total incidents of harassment for each species
are multiplied by scalar ratios (except in the cases where the take
estimate has been rounded up to reflect a group size) 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.
[[Page 21470]]
Table 1--Take Analysis
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Authorized Scaled take 1 Abundance 2 Percent
Species take abundance
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Rice's whale.................................... 2 NA 51 3.9
Sperm whale..................................... 569 241 2,451 9.8
Kogia spp....................................... 153 \3\ 46.8 1,385 3.9
Beaked whales................................... 1,176 119 1,038 11.4
Rough-toothed dolphin........................... 1,467 421 4,853 8.7
Bottlenose dolphin.............................. 1,753 503 151,886 0.3
Clymene dolphin................................. 555 159 6,136 2.6
Atlantic spotted dolphin........................ 523 150 21,506 0.7
Pantropical spotted dolphin..................... 12,398 3,558 50,209 7.1
Spinner dolphin................................. 269 77 2,199 3.5
Striped dolphin................................. 1,567 450 16,102 2.8
Fraser's dolphin................................ 538 154 1,665 9.3
Risso's dolphin................................. 438 129 1,974 6.5
Blackfish \4\................................... 1,878 554 9,535 5.8
Short-finned pilot whale........................ 709 209 3,277 6.4
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\1\ Scalar ratios were applied to ``Authorized Take'' values as described at 86 FR 5322 and 86 FR 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 SAR abundance estimate is used.
\3\ Includes 7 takes by Level A harassment and 146 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 Shell'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 a modification to the LOA to Shell authorizing the take
of marine mammals incidental to its geophysical survey activity, as
described above.
Dated: May 15, 2025.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-09021 Filed 5-19-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 20, 2025.
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