Notice2025-20193
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
November 18, 2025
Effective
October 15, 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 Letter of Authorization (LOA) issued to Chevron 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 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51658-51660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20193]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF231]
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 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 (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 Letter of Authorization (LOA) issued
to Chevron for the taking of marine mammals incidental to geophysical
survey activity in the GOA.
DATES: This LOA is effective October 15, 2025, through April 19, 2026.
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: Carter Esch, 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\
[[Page 51659]]
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, NMFS amended the incidental take regulations
to reflect the change. See 90 FR 38001 (August 7, 2025).
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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 (LPAI) standard of
the MMPA.
NMFS issued a LOA to Chevron on August 27, 2025, for the take of
marine mammals incidental to a three-dimensional (3D) ocean-bottom node
survey in Lease Block Walker Ridge 678 area, effective December 1,
2025, through April 19, 2026. Please see the Federal Register notice of
issuance (90 FR 42749, September 4, 2025) for additional detail
regarding the LOA and the survey activity.
On September 12, 2025, Chevron informed NMFS that its planned
survey timing had shifted due to changing survey schedules and vessel
availability. Accordingly, they requested a modification to the LOA to
reflect the new survey dates. Chevron has requested that the modified
LOA effective period begin October 15, 2025, rather than December 1,
2025. There are no other changes to the survey area or plan, which
includes a total of 60 days of sound source operation in Zone 7.
Since the survey timing now involves months for which take was not
previously assessed, we have updated Chevron's take estimates based on
the revised schedule. The monthly distribution of survey days is not
known in advance, though we assume that the planned 60 days of source
operation would occur contiguously. Take estimates for each species are
based on the period that produces the greatest value.
Based on the results of our analysis, NMFS has determined that the
level of taking expected for this survey and authorized through the
modified 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 and in the Federal Register notice of issuance for the original
LOA (90 FR 42749, September 4, 2025). 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.
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..................................... 259 110 2,451 4.5
Kogia spp....................................... \3\ 280 104 1,385 7.5
Beaked whales................................... 105 11 1,038 1.0
Rough-toothed dolphin........................... 820 235 4,853 4.8
Bottlenose dolphin.............................. \4\ 21 n/a 166,538 <0.01
Clymene dolphin................................. 1,691 485 6,136 7.9
Atlantic spotted dolphin........................ 0 n/a 21,506 n/a
Pantropical spotted dolphin..................... 13,206 3,790 50,209 7.5
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Spinner dolphin................................. \4\ 152 n/a 2,991 5.1
Striped dolphin................................. 4,750 1,363 16,102 8.5
Fraser's dolphin................................ 379 109 1,665 6.5
Risso's dolphin................................. 81 24 1,974 1.2
Blackfish \5\................................... 3,087 911 9,535 9.5
Short-finned pilot whale........................ 0 n/a 3,277 n/a
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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, spinner dolphin, and Risso's dolphin, the estimated SAR abundance estimate is used.
\3\ Includes 21 takes by Level A harassment and 259 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
(83.3) plus authorized Level A harassment take (20.5).
\4\ Modeled take of bottlenose dolphins (n=6) and spinner dolphins (n=91) increased to account for potential
encounter with a group of average size (Maze-Foley and Mullin, 2006).
\5\ The ``blackfish'' guild includes melon-headed whales, false killer whales, pygmy killer whales, and killer
whales.
Based on the analysis contained herein of Chevron's proposed survey
activity described in its LOA application, as subsequently modified by
Chevron, 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
modification 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
Chevron authorizing the take of marine mammals incidental to its
geophysical survey activity, as described above.
Dated: November 13, 2025.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-20193 Filed 11-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 18, 2025.
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