Regulations Governing the Taking of Marine Mammals

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>50 CFR Part 216</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. 240604-0152]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 0648-BI58</RIN> <SUBJECT>Regulations Governing the Taking of Marine Mammals</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> Following formal rulemaking proceedings including an on-the-record hearing before an administrative law judge, NMFS is waiving the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) moratorium on taking Eastern North Pacific (ENP) gray whales ( <E T="03">Eschrichtius robustus</E> ) to allow the Makah Indian Tribe to conduct a limited ceremonial and subsistence hunt of up to 25 ENP gray whales over a 10-year period in accordance with the Treaty of Neah Bay of 1855 and the quota first established by the International Whaling Commission in 1997. NMFS is also promulgating regulations to govern the issuance of hunt permits and the hunt itself. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> <E T="03">Effective date:</E> This rule is effective June 18, 2024. <E T="03">Waiver period:</E> The 10-year waiver period begins the first day of the first season after issuance of the initial hunt permit. <E T="03">Expiration date:</E> These regulations will expire 10 years after the effective date of the initial hunt permit specified under § 216.113(b), unless extended. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Copies of the Final Environmental Impacts Statement (FEIS) including the Record of Decision as well as supporting documents are accessible via the internet on the Makah Tribal Whale Hunt Chronology web page at: <E T="03">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/marine-mammal-protection/makah-tribal-whale-hunt-chronology</E> or you may request copies by email from <E T="03">ellen.keane@noaa.gov</E> . <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Ellen Keane, 978-282-8476. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. List of Acronyms</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Introduction</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Background and History of Proceedings</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Overview of the Tribunal's Recommended Decision</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Responses to Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Measures in the Final Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Changes to Final Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VIII. Application of the Statutory Criteria to the Final Waiver and Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IX. Scientific Information and Analysis Developed After the Recommended Decision</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">X. Required Statements Related to Final Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">XI. Classifications</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. List of Acronyms and Abbreviations</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Agency National Marine Fisheries Service</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">ALJ Administrative Law Judge</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">APA Administrative Procedure Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">AS-IA Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">AWI Animal Welfare Institute</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">CFR Code of Federal Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">COSEWIC Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">CZMA Coastal Zone Management Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">DEIS Draft Environmental Impact Statement</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">DPS Distinct Population Segment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">E.O. Executive Order</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Ecology State of Washington Department of Ecology</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">EIS Environmental Impact Statement</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">ENP Eastern North Pacific</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">ESA Endangered Species Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">FEIS Final Environmental Impact Statement</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">FR Federal Register</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">FWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">GAMMS Guidelines for Assessing Marine Mammal Stocks</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I Assistant Administrator for Fisheries</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">ITA Incidental Take Authorization, which include incidental harassment authorizations and letters of authorization</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IWC International Whaling Commission</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">LSIESP Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">MMC Marine Mammal Commission</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">MMPA Marine Mammal Protection Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">MNPL Maximum Net Productivity Level</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">MUA Makah Usual and Accustomed Fishing Grounds</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">NCA-NBC Northern California through Northern Vancouver/British Columbia</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">NEPA National Environmental Policy Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">NFG Northern Feeding Group</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">OR-SVI Southern Oregon through Southern Vancouver Island</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">OSP Optimum Sustainable Population</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">PBR Potential Biological Removal</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">PCFG Pacific Coast Feeding Group</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">PCPW Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">PSRG Pacific Scientific Review Group</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">RD Recommended Decision from the Tribunal</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">ROD Record of Decision</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">RFA Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">SARs Stock Assessment Reports</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">SDEIS Supplemental Draft Impact Statement</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">SRT Status Review Team</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">Tab Tab number in the hearing record</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">U&A Usual and Accustomed Fishing Grounds</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">U.S.C. United States Code</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">UME Unusual Mortality Event</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">WCA Whaling Convention Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">WCZMP Washington State's Coastal Zone Management Program</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">WCR NMFS's West Coast Regional Office</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">WFG Western Feeding Group</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">WNP Western North Pacific</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Introduction</HD> On February 14, 2005, NMFS received a request from the Makah Indian Tribe of Neah Bay, Washington (Makah Tribe, Makah, or Tribe), to waive the moratorium in the MMPA on taking marine mammals and issue regulations allowing a Tribal hunt for ENP gray whales ( <E T="03">Eschrichtius robustus</E> ) in waters of the northwest coast of Washington State. The Tribe has also requested that NMFS authorize the making and sale of handicraft items from whales taken during Tribal whaling. In 1994, ENP gray whales were removed from the “endangered” species list under the ESA because the population successfully rebounded after the end of the commercial whaling era. ENP gray whales remain protected by the MMPA. The MMPA imposes a general moratorium on the taking of marine mammals but authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to waive the moratorium and issue regulations governing the take of marine mammals if certain statutory criteria are met. The decision to waive the moratorium and issue regulations is made on the record after an opportunity for an agency hearing on the proposed waiver and regulations. The Secretary has delegated the responsibility to determine whether the waiver application meets the MMPA's standards to the NOAA Administrator who then delegated this authority to the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries. As the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, I am responsible for rendering the Final Decision in this matter. For the reasons set forth in this Final Decision, I have determined that the MMPA waiver should be granted and implementing regulations should be adopted to manage the hunt. The waiver and regulations I adopt in this document establish a framework for the Makah Tribe to exercise their treaty right to whale in accordance with the MMPA, but additional steps are necessary under the MMPA and the WCA before hunting resumes. The waiver and accompanying final regulations (see section VI of this Final Decision) authorize a limited hunt for ENP gray whales over a 10-year period, during which no more than 25 ENP gray whales could be killed, in the coastal portion of the Makah's U&A. ENP gray whales will be harvested from the quota already established by the IWC for the Makah and Chukotkan Natives. The IWC first adopted the joint request of the United States and the Russian Federation for an ENP gray whale catch limit in 1997. RD at 9. The Chukotkan are indigenous to the Russian Federation and harvested an average of 125 ENP gray whales from the Bering Sea per year from 2008-2017, when the average number that could be taken each year while remaining below the IWC catch limit was 124. Tab 60F at 6. In September 2018, the IWC approved the latest catch limit of 980 ENP gray whales, with an annual cap of 140 whales, for the Makah and Chukotka for the period 2019-2025. Tab 3 at 5. A separate bilateral agreement between the United States and Russian Federation sets overall and annual limits for the two countries. Tab 3E through 3I. The Makah Tribe are entitled to harvest no more than 5 whales per year under the agreement with the Russian Federation which also specifies that any country's unused quota may be transferred to the other. RD at 9. In past years, the United States transferred its entire quota to Russian Federation for the Chukotkan hunt while NMFS completed the necessary steps under domestic law to consider the Tribe's request for a waiver from the MMPA. Tab 3 at 5-6. This practice will likely continue if the Makah are unable to ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 328k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━