[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 57 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)] [Notices] [Page 14431] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 99-7351] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [I.D. 030599B] Incidental Take of Marine Mammals; Taking of Ringed Seals Incidental to On-Ice Seismic Activities
Agency
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
Action
Notice of issuance of a letter of authorization.
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Summary
In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, and with implementing regulations, notification is hereby given that a letter of authorization to take ringed seals incidental to on-ice seismic operations in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska was issued on March 21, 1999, to BP Exploration (Alaska), Anchorage, AK.
Dates
This letter of authorization is effective from March 21, 1999, through May 31, 1999.
Addresses
The applications and letters are available for review in the following offices: Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, and Western Alaska Field Office, NMFS, 701 C Street, Anchorage, AK 99513.
For Further Information Contact
Kenneth R. Hollingshead, NMFS, (301) 713-2055 or Brad Smith, Western Alaska Field Office, NMFS, (907) 271- 5006.
Supplementary Information
Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) directs NMFS to allow, on 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 by NMFS and regulations are issued. Under the MMPA, the term ``taking'' means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or to attempt to harass, hunt, capture or kill marine mammals. Permission may be granted for periods up to 5 years if NMFS finds, after notification and opportunity for public comment, that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) of marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock(s) for subsistence uses. In addition, NMFS must prescribe regulations that include permissible methods of taking and other means effecting the least practicable adverse impact on the species and its habitat and on the availability of the species for subsistence uses, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance. The regulations must include requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. Regulations governing the taking of ringed and bearded seals incidental to on-ice seismic surveys were published on February 2, 1998 (63 FR 5277), and remain in effect until December 31, 2002.
Summary of Request
NMFS received a request for a letter of authorization on February 8, 1999, from BP Exploration (Alaska). This letter requested a take by harassment of a small number of ringed seals incidental to the described activity. Issuance of these letters of authorization are based on findings that the total takings by this activity will have a negligible impact on the ringed and bearded seal stocks of the Western Beaufort Sea and that the applicants have met the requirements contained in the implementing regulations.
Dated: March 21, 1999. Hilda Diaz-Soltero, Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 99-7351 Filed 3-24-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-22-F