Notice2025-16892
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to a Marine Geophysical Survey of the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Northeast Pacific Ocean
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
September 3, 2025
Effective
September 2, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to a geophysical survey of the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 168 (Wednesday, September 3, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 168 (Wednesday, September 3, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42568-42569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16892]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF076]
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities;
Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to a Marine Geophysical Survey of the
Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Northeast Pacific Ocean
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of incidental harassment authorization.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine
Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given
that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) for authorization to take
marine mammals incidental to a geophysical survey of the Cascadia
Subduction Zone in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.
DATES: This authorization is effective September 2, 2025 through
September 1, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the application and supporting
documents, as well as a list of the references cited in this document,
may be obtained online at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-research-and-other-activities</a>. In case of problems accessing these documents, please
call the contact listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate Fleming, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
MMPA Background and Determinations
The MMPA prohibits the ``take'' of marine mammals, with certain
exceptions. Among the exceptions is section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA
(16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) which directs the Secretary of Commerce (as
delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not
intentional, taking by harassment 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 the public has an opportunity to comment on the proposed IHA.
Specifically, NMFS will issue an IHA if it finds that the taking
will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) and will not
have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species
or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses (where relevant). Further,
NMFS must prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other ``means
of effecting the least practicable adverse impact'' on the affected
species or stocks and their habitat, paying particular attention to
rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance, and on
the availability of such species or stocks for taking for certain
subsistence uses (referred to here as ``mitigation''). NMFS must also
prescribe requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of
such takings. The definitions of key terms, such as ``take,''
``harassment,'' and ``negligible impact,'' can be found in the MMPA and
the NMFS' implementing regulations (see 16 U.S.C. 1362; 50 CFR
216.103).
On July 21, 2025, a notice of NMFS' proposal to issue an IHA to SIO
for take of marine mammals incidental to a planned geophysical survey
of the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Northeast Pacific Ocean was
published in the Federal Register (90 FR 34212). In that notice, NMFS
indicated the estimated numbers, type, and methods of incidental take
proposed for each species or stock, as well as the mitigation,
monitoring, and reporting measures that would be required should the
IHA be issued. The Federal Register notice also included an analysis to
support NMFS' preliminary conclusions and determinations that the IHA,
if issued, would satisfy the requirements of section 101(a)(5)(D) of
the MMPA for issuance of the IHA. The Federal Register notice included
web links to a draft IHA for review, as well as other supporting
documents.
[[Page 42569]]
No substantive comments were received during the public comment
period. There are no changes to the specified activity, the species
taken, the proposed numbers, type, or methods of take, or the
mitigation, monitoring, or reporting measures in the proposed IHA
notice. No new information that would change any of the preliminary
analyses, conclusions, or determinations in the proposed IHA notice has
become available since that notice was published, and therefore, the
preliminary analyses, conclusions, and determinations included in the
proposed IHA are considered final.
National Environmental Policy Act
To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA;
42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216-6A,
NMFS must review our proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an IHA)
with respect to potential impacts on the human environment.
This action is consistent with categories of activities identified
in Categorical Exclusion B4 (IHAs with no anticipated serious injury or
mortality) of the Companion Manual for NAO 216-6A, which do not
individually or cumulatively have the potential for significant impacts
on the quality of the human environment and for which we have not
identified extraordinary circumstances that would preclude this
categorical exclusion. Accordingly, NMFS has determined that the
issuance of the IHAs qualifies to be categorically excluded from
further NEPA review.
Endangered Species Act
Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires that each Federal agency ensures that any
action it authorizes, funds, or carries out is not likely to jeopardize
the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or
result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated
critical habitat. To ensure ESA compliance for the issuance of IHAs,
NMFS consults internally whenever we propose to authorize take for
endangered or threatened species.
The NMFS Office of Protected Resources (OPR) ESA Interagency
Cooperation Division has issued a Biological Opinion under section 7 of
the ESA, on the issuance of an IHA to SIO under section 101(a)(5)(D) of
the MMPA by the NMFS OPR Permits and Conservation Division. The
Biological Opinion concluded that the action is not likely to
jeopardize the continued existence of ESA-listed humpback whale
(Central America and Mexico Distinct Population Segments), sei whale,
fin whale, blue whale, sperm whale, and Guadalupe fur seal.
Authorization
Accordingly, consistent with the requirements of section
101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA, NMFS has issued an IHA to SIO for
authorization to take marine mammals incidental to a geophysical survey
in the Cascadia Subduction Zone of the Northeast Pacific Ocean.
Dated: August 28, 2025.
Shannon Bettridge,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-16892 Filed 9-2-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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