Marine Mammals; Stock Assessment Reports

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Marine Mammals; Stock Assessment Reports

Agency: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.

Action: Availability of marine mammal draft stock assessments and

Potential Biological Removal workshop reports; request for comments.

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Summary: The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) amendments of 1994

require the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the National Marine

Fisheries Service (NMFS) to prepare draft stock assessments by August

1, 1994, for all marine mammal stocks that occur in waters under the

jurisdiction of the United States. The NMFS, with participation by the

Service, convened a workshop to develop an initial approach for

promoting a consistent national interpretation of parameters used in

draft stock assessments.

Dates: Comments on the draft stock assessments and the report of the

PBR workshop must be received by November 21, 1994.

Addresses: Copies of the draft stock assessments and PBR workshop

reports are available from the Division of Fish and Wildlife Management

Assistance, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Room 820-ARLSQ, 4401 N.

Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203, Telephone (703) 358-1718.

Comments on the draft stock assessments for polar bears, Pacific

walrus, and Alaska sea otters in Alaska, along with related comments on

the report of the PBR workshop, should be sent to Dave McGillivary,

Supervisor, Office of Marine Mammals Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, 1011 E. Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska 99503.

Comments on the draft stock assessments for West Indian manatees,

along with related comments on the report of the PBR workshop, should

be sent to Robert Turner, Manatee Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, 6620 South Point Drive, South, Suite 310, Jacksonville,

Florida 32216.

Comments on the draft stock assessments for California sea otters

and Alaska sea otters in Washington State, along with related comments

on the report of the PBR workshop, should be sent to Carl Benz, Sea

Otter Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2140 Eastman Avenue,

Suite 100, Ventura, California 93003.

For Further Information Contact: Jeff Horwath in the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service's Division of Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance,

Arlington, Virginia at (703) 358-1718. For information about the Alaska

marine mammals identified in the ADDRESSES Section above, contact Dave

McGillivary at (907) 786-3800. For information about West Indian

manatees as identified in the ADDRESSES Section above, contact Robert

Turner at (904) 232-2580. For information about California sea otters

and Alaska sea otters in Washington State as identified in the

ADDRESSES Section above, contact Carl Benz at (805) 644-1766.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Draft Stock Assessment Reports

On April 30, 1994, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)

Amendments of 1994 were enacted into public law (Pub. L. 103-238). As

amended by new Section 117 of the MMPA, the Service and the NMFS (as

appropriate) are required to prepare, and periodically revise, stock

assessments for marine mammals that occur in waters under the

jurisdiction of the United States. Drafts of these stock assessments

were to be completed by August 1, 1994. New Section 117 also requires

publication in the Federal Register of a notice of availability of the

draft stock assessments with a 90-day public review and comment period.

In addition, the NMFS, in consultation with the Service and others,

was required to establish by June 30, 1994, three independent regional

Scientific Review Groups representing Alaska, the Pacific Coast

(including Hawaii), and the Atlantic Coast (including the Gulf of

Mexico). These Scientific Review Groups are to provide advice on the

stock assessments and other issues appropriate for pursuing the goals

of the NMPA. These Groups were established and the Service's draft

stock assessments have been provided to them for their review and

comment.

Paralleling actions by the NMFS, the Service's draft stock

assessments have been divided into the Alaska, Pacific, and Atlantic

regions to correspond with the appropriate Scientific Review Group. As

specified by the 1944 amendments each stock assessment must, based on

the best scientific information available:

(1) Describe the geographic range of the affected stock, including

any seasonal or temporal variations in such range;

(2) Provide minimum population estimates, current and maximum net

productivity rates, and the current population trend, including a

description of the information upon which these are based;

(3) Estimate the annual human-caused mortality and serious injury

of the stock by source and, for a strategic stock, other factors that

may be causing a decline or impeding recovery of the stock, including

effects on marine mammal habitat and prey;

(4) Describe commercial fisheries that interact with the stock,

including:

(A) The approximate number of vessels actively participating in

each such fishery;

(B) The estimated annual level of incidental mortality and serious

injury of the stock by each fishery;

(C) Any seasonal or area differences in such incidental mortality

or serious injury; and

(D) The rate, based on the appropriate standard unit of fishing

effort, of such incidental mortality and serious injury, and an

analysis stating whether such level is insignificant and approaching a

zero mortality and serious injury rate.

(5) Categorize the status of the stock as one that either:

(A) Has a level of human-caused mortality and serious injury that

is not likely to cause the stock to be reduced below its optimum

sustainable population (OSP); or

(B) Is a strategic stock, with a description of the reasons

therefor.

(6) Estimate the potential biological removal (PBR) level for the

stock describing the information used to calculate it, including the

recovery factor.

Congress defined the PBR level as the maximum number of animals,

not including natural mortalities, that may be removed from a marine

mammal stock while allowing that stock to reach or maintain its OSP

level.

Congress defined strategic stocks as those:

(1) For which the level of direct, human-caused mortality exceeds

the PBR level;

(2) Which, based on the best available scientific information, are

declining and are stocks likely to be listed as threatened under the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) within

the foreseeable future; or

(3) Which are listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA or

designated as depleted under the MMPA.

The Amendments required the Service to provide, through a notice of

availability in the Federal Register, a summary of the draft stock

assessments and a list of sources of information or published

documentation on which each draft assessment is based. To satisfy this

requirement and minimize unnecessary duplication, a table that

summarizes draft stock assessments appears at the end of this document.

The table lists each stock, its regional designation, geographical

range, minimum abundance estimate, PBR level, annual estimated average

human-caused mortality, and whether or not the stock would be regarded

as strategic or nonstrategic.

To maximize the opportunity for full consultation with the

Scientific Review Groups, Alaska Native organizations, and the public,

the Service is pursuing parallel tracks of review. In addition to the

comment period initiated by this notice, the Service began consultation

with the Scientific Review Groups by forwarding draft stock assessments

on July 29, 1994, to the appropriate Scientific Review Groups for their

review and comment. In recognition of the value of traditional Native

knowledge and the need for full and equal participation by Alaskan

Natives in the decisions that affect the management of marine mammals

and, therefore, the subsistence harvest upon which they depend, the

Service is seeking direct input from Alaskan Natives, particularly with

regard to stocks taken for subsistence. It is important to note that

under new Section 117(b)(2) of the MMPA, a formal mechanism is

available to Alaskan Natives to require a proceeding on the record

pertaining to the development of a stock assessment prior to its

finalization.

At the close of the public comment period, the Service will

continue on-going consultation with the Scientific Review Groups by

providing the public comments for each draft stock assessment for their

additional review and consideration.

PBR Workshop and Reports

Recognizing the need to provide consistent parameters in

calculating stock assessments, the NMFS convened a workshop, composed

of NMFS and Service scientists, to develop an initial approach for

promoting consistent national interpretation of parameters to be used

in draft stock assessments, including the calculation of PBR levels, a

required component of stock assessments. PBR is calculated as the

product of three elements: the minimum population estimate (NMIN); half

the maximum net productivity rate (0.5RMAX); and a recovery factor (FA)

ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 (i.e., PBR=NMIN x 0.5RMAX x FR).

The NMFS convened the workshop to agree on an initial approach for

calculating PBR, defining stock structure, and analyzing whether

fishery-related incidental mortality and serious injury have reached

insignificant levels approaching zero mortality and serious injury

rates for use in preparing draft stock assessments. It was the workshop

participants' principal objective to identify quantitative criteria for

defining input values that could serve as a nationwide standard for

calculating PBR.

The workshop participants concluded that the three PBR parameters

must be evaluated together, rather than independently, in the context

of meeting the goals of the MMPA. In this regard, they concluded that

FR should serve to weight the PBR so as to take into account

uncertainty in estimates of NMIN, and serve as a ``safety factor'' that

would allow the taking of individuals from stocks below OSP while

continuing to promote their recovery and that would provide a safety

margin to account for unknown bias in stock status information (e.g.,

estimation of abundance, productivity, mortality) for stocks of unknown

status or trends.

The workshop was held in LaJolla, California, June 27-29, 1994. A

copy of the Report of the PBR Workshop is available from the office

identified in the ADDRESSES Section.

The Service, along with the NMFS, is seeking comments on the

methodologies for calculating PBR and other parameters that were agreed

to by the workshop participants and employed in the preparation of the

draft stock assessments, as well as seeking comments on the individual

draft stock assessments.

Table of Marine Mammal Draft Stock Assessments for Fish and Wildlife Service Species

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Annual est. avg.

Marine mammal stock Regional Geographical range Minimum population PBR level\1\ human-caused Strategic or non-

designation estimate mortality strategic

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Polar bear:

Beaufort sea stock.... Alaska.......... Beaufort Sea- Alaska & 1,778 (S.D.803). Canada.

Chukchi/Bering Seas Alaska.......... Chukchi & Bering Seas- 1,222-3,222......... Not determined.. 86 Alaska only.. Non-strategic.

stock. Alaska & Russia.

Pacific walrus Bering/ Alaska.......... Alaska & Russia........... 188,316............. 5,649........... 7,500........... Strategic.

Chukchi Seas stock.

Sea otter:

Alaska stock.......... Alaska.......... Alaska.................... 100,000............. 6,000........... Not determined.. Non-strategic.

Washington stock...... Pacific......... Makah Bay to Destruction 307................. 9............... Unknown......... Non-strategic.

Island, WA.

West Indian Manatee:

Florida stock......... Atlantic........ Southeastern U.S.A........ 1,856............... 4............... 49\2\........... Strategic.

Antillean stock....... Atlantic........ Puerto Rico & U.S. Virgin 86.................. 0............... 2............... Strategic.

Islands.

Southern sea otter Pacific......... Central California & San 2,376............... Not Unknown......... Strategic.

California stock. Nicolas Island. determined\3\.

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\1\Levels of harvest that are below PBR levels could result in negative impacts to local populations.

\2\Estimated average annual mortality for the West Indian manatee-Florida stock from 1984-1992. The estimated annual mortality from 1974-1992 is 36

animals.

\3\The PBR level for the southern sea otter-California stock was not determined because their incidental take is not governed under Section 118 of the

1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Dated: August 15, 1994.

Jay L. Gerst,

Acting Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 94-20599 Filed 8-22-94; 8:45 am]

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