Notice2026-18613
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Northeast Fisheries Science Center Fisheries and Ecosystem Research
Primary source
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Published
September 11, 2026
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS has received a request from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to fisheries and ecosystem research in the Atlantic Ocean over the course of 5-years from the date of issuance. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of the NEFSC's request for the development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on the NEFSC's application and request.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 175 (Friday, September 11, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 175 (Friday, September 11, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57863-57864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-18613]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XF959]
Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals
Incidental to Northeast Fisheries Science Center Fisheries and
Ecosystem Research
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for letter of authorization;
request for comments and information.
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SUMMARY: NMFS has received a request from the Northeast Fisheries
Science Center (NEFSC) for authorization to take small numbers of
marine mammals incidental to fisheries and ecosystem research in the
Atlantic Ocean over the course of 5-years from the date of issuance.
Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of the NEFSC's request for the
development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental
taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide
information, suggestions, and comments on the NEFSC's application and
request.
DATES: Comments and information must be received no later than October
13, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the applications should be addressed to the
Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS.
Physical comments should be sent to 1315 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD 20910 and electronic comments should be sent to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#733a27235d101c101801161f1f331d1c12125d141c05"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c58c9195eba6aaa6aeb7a0a9a985abaaa4a4eba2aab3">[email protected]</span></a>.
Instructions: NMFS is not responsible for comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the
end of the comment period. Comments received electronically, including
all attachments, must not exceed a 25-megabyte file size. Attachments
to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel or
Adobe PDF file formats only. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted 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> without change. All
personal identifying information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit
confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
An electronic copy of the NEFSC's application 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: Craig Cockrell, 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 (as delegated to NMFS) 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 incidental take authorization 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.
The MMPA states that the term ``take'' means to harass, hunt,
capture, kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine
mammal.
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).
Summary of Request
On July 16, 2026, NMFS received an application from the NEFSC
requesting authorization for take of marine mammals incidental to their
fisheries and ecosystem research activities with a variety of fishing
gear in the Atlantic Ocean. We determined the application was adequate
and complete on August 26, 2026. The requested regulations would be
valid for 5-years (2027-2032). The NEFSC plans to conduct the specified
activity along the east coast of the U.S. in the Atlantic Ocean. It is
possible that marine mammals may interact with several types of fishing
gear proposed for use in the NEFSC's fisheries and ecosystem research,
resulting in serious injury and mortality. Therefore, the NEFSC
requests authorization to incidentally take marine mammals.
Specified Activities
The Federal Government has a responsibility to conserve and protect
living marine resources in U.S. Federal waters and has also entered
into a number of international agreements and treaties related to the
management of living marine resources in international waters outside
the United States. NOAA has the primary responsibility for managing
marine fin and shellfish species and their habitats, with that
responsibility delegated within NOAA to NMFS.
In order to direct and coordinate the collection of scientific
information needed to make informed management decisions, Congress
created six Regional Fisheries Science Centers, each a distinct
organizational entity and the scientific focal point within NMFS for
region-based Federal fisheries-related research. This research is aimed
at monitoring fish stock recruitment, abundance, survival and
biological rates, geographic distribution of species and stocks,
ecosystem process changes,
[[Page 57864]]
and marine ecological research. The NEFSC is the research arm of NMFS
in the Greater Atlantic Region. The NEFSC conducts research and
provides scientific advice to manage fisheries and conserve protected
species in the Atlantic Ocean, primarily from Maine through North
Carolina. However, some limited fisheries research is conducted in more
southern estuaries and Atlantic Ocean. The NEFSC provides scientific
information to support the North Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council and numerous other domestic and international
fisheries management organizations.
The NEFSC collects a wide array of information necessary to
evaluate the status of exploited fishery resources and the marine
environment. NEFSC scientists and their partners conduct fisheries-
independent research onboard NOAA-owned and operated vessels or on
chartered vessels. The gear types used fall into several categories:
trawl gear used at various levels in the water column, longlines with
multiple hooks, gillnets, and other gear. Of research gear used by
NEFSC, only trawl, hook and line gear (including longline gears), fyke
nets, and gillnets are likely to interact with marine mammals resulting
in serious injury or mortality.
Information Solicited
Interested persons may submit information, suggestions, and
comments concerning the NEFSC's request (see ADDRESSES). NMFS will
consider all information, suggestions, and comments related to the
request during the development of proposed regulations governing the
incidental taking of marine mammals by the NEFSC, if appropriate.
Dated: September 8, 2026.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-18613 Filed 9-10-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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