Notice of Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for Spectacled Eiders for Review and Comment

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for Spectacled

Eiders for Review and Comment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the

availability for public review of a draft recovery plan for spectacled

eiders (Somateria fischeri). The species occurs in arctic and sub-

arctic regions of western and northern Alaska and along the arctic

coast of Russia. The Service is proposing emphasis on recovery actions

in these geographic areas. The Service solicits review and comment from

the public on this draft plan.

DATES: Comments on the draft recovery plan must be received on or

before February 23, 1995 to receive consideration by the Service.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review the draft recovery plan may obtain

a copy by contacting Teresa Woods at 1011 E. Tudor Rd., Anchorage,

Alaska, 99503-6199 and 907/786-3505. Written comments and materials

regarding the plan should be addressed to Teresa Woods at the above

address. Comments and materials received are available on request for

public inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teresa Woods at the above address and

telephone number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Restoring an endangered or threatened animal or plant to the point

where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is

a primary goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered

species program. To help guide the recovery effort, the Service is

working to prepare recovery plans for most of the listed species native

to the United States. Recovery plans describe actions considered

necessary for conservation of the species, establish criteria for the

recovery levels for downlisting or delisting them, and estimate time

and cost for implementing the recovery measures needed.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et

seq.) (Act) requires the development of recovery plans for listed

species unless such a plan would not promote the conservation of a

particular species. Section 4(f) of the Act, as amended in 1988,

requires that public notice and an opportunity for public review and

comment be provided during recovery plan development. The Service will

consider all information presented during the public comment period

prior to approval of each new or revised Recovery Plan. The Service and

other Federal agencies will also take these comments into account in

the course of implementing approved recovery plans.

The spectacled eider is a large-bodied sea duck and one of three

species in the genus Somateria. Spectacled eiders historically nested

discontinuously along the west coast of Alaska from Nushagak Peninsula

north to Barrow and east nearly to the Yukon Territory border (Bailey

1948; Dau and Kistchinski 1977; Derksen et al. 1981; Johnson and Herter

1989; Warnock and Troy 1993). They also have nested on St. Lawrence

Island, Alaska, in the Bering Sea (Fay 1961). Along the arctic coast of

Russia, spectacled eiders nest from the north side of the Chukotsk

Peninsula west to the Lena River Delta and Novosibirski Islands

(Buturlin 1910; Dementev and Gladkov 1952; Portenko 1972). Today,

primary nesting grounds are the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and north central

arctic coast (Cape Simpson to the Sagavanirktok River, hereafter

referred to as the North Slope) of Alaska and the Chaun Gulf and

Kolyma, Indigirka and Yana river deltas in Russia.

The Service estimates that the number of nesting spectacled eiders

on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has rapidly and continuously declined by

over 96 percent in the past 20 years (Stehn et al. 1993; Warnock and

Troy 1993; Ely et al., in press). Information from researchers in the

Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, oilfields (Warnock and Troy 1993) and Native

elders at Wainwright (R. Suydam, pers. comm.) suggest local population

declines on the North Slope. No data are available for examining

overall trends on the North Slope or in Arctic Russia.

The Service responded to a December 1990 petition to list the

spectacled eider as endangered. After review of the best available

commercial and scientific data the species was designated as threatened

on May 10, 1993 (FR 58(88):24474-27480). The primary reason for listing

spectacled eiders was their rapid and continuing decline on the Yukon-

Kuskokwim Delta breeding grounds, and indications that they may have

declined on Alaska's North Slope, as well. Other factors that

contributed to the Service's concern for the species' status were

varying impacts due to human activities and population growth.

Causes of this species' dramatic decline, as well as the

identification and determination of relative importance of current

obstacles to recovery, have yet to be determined. Several current and

historical causes of mortality have been identified; they are predation

by fox and gulls, subsistence and sport harvest, egg and scientific

collecting, and environmental contamination. Other causes of mortality

are suspected, such as collisions with commercial fishing vessels,

changes in the food web, global climatic changes, competition from

other marine species, and diseases and parasites.

Basic natural history information to elucidate the causes for

decline and obstacles for recovery is lacking. Information about the

distribution and abundance of spectacled eiders throughout the year is

fragmentary, as is our understanding of the demography and population

dynamics of this species. Whether the nesting populations of spectacled

eiders in the three primary geographic areas are genetically or

demographically distinct is unknown, yet specific recovery actions and

priorities may hinge on such a determination.

In light of these significant data gaps, an exhaustive list of

tasks required to achieve recovery cannot yet be presented. Instead,

interim recovery efforts that proceed simultaneously along three

fronts--preliminary management actions to eliminate known sources of

mortality; exploratory data collection and analysis; and hypothesis-

testing regarding the causes of the species' decline and obstacles to

its recovery--are recommended. Over the next several years, recovery

efforts should focus on the following topics:

(1) Through meaningful participation, involve Native Alaskans

living within the historical range of the species in recovery and

management efforts;

(2) Increase efforts to reduce mortality;

(3) Quantify and monitor existing breeding populations;

(4) Determine molting, migration, and wintering areas and habitats;

(5) Conduct research on the demography and biology of the species

and develop demographic models; and

(6) Attempt to determine causes for the species' decline and

obstacles to its recovery.

The geographic areas of emphasis for these recovery efforts are the

Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the North Slope, and to a lesser degree St.

Lawrence Island, and Seward Peninsula, Alaska, and Arctic Russia.

Public Comments Solicited

The Service solicits written comments on the recovery plan

described. All comments received by the date specified above will be

considered prior to approval of the plan.

References Cited

Baily, A.M., 1948. Birds of Arctic Alaska. Colorado Mus. Nat. Hist.,

Pop. Ser. No. 8. 317 p.

Buturlin, S.A. 1910. The true home of the spectacled eider. Condor

12:46.

Dau, C.P. and A.A. Kistchinski. 1977. Seasonal movements and

distribution of the spectacled eider. Wildfowl 28:65-75.

Dementev, G.P. and N.A. Gladkov (eds.) 1952. Birds of the Soviet Union,

Vol. 4. Translated by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations in

1967. National Tech. Info. Serv., U.S. Dept. Comm., Springfield, VA.

683 p.

Derksen, D.V., T.C. Rothe, and W.D. Eldridge. 1981. Use of wetland

habitats in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. U.S. Fish and Wildl.

Serv., Resource Pub. 141, 27 p.

Ely, C.R., C.P. Dau and C.A. Babcock. In Press. Long-term decline in a

population of spectacled eiders nesting near the Kashunuk River, Yukon-

Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Northwestern Naturalist.

Fay, F.H. 1961. The distribution of waterfowl to St. Lawrence Island,

Alaska. Wildfowl 12:70-80.

Johnson, S.R. and D.R. Herter. 1989. The birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP

Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, AK. 372 p.

Portenko, L.A. 1972. Birds of the Chukchi Peninsula and Wrangel Island.

Vol. 2, Nauka, Leningrad, USSR (in Russian).

Stehn, R.A., C.P. Dau, B. Conant and W.I. Butler, Jr. (1993). Decline

of spectacled eiders nesting in western Alaska. Arctic 46(3):264-277.

Warnock, N.D., and D.M. Troy. 1993. Distribution and abundance of

spectacled eiders at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: 1991. Unpubl. Rept. for BP

Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Environmental and Regulatory Affairs

Department, Anchorage, AK. 21 p.

Authority

The authority for this action is Section 4(f) of the Endangered

Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1533(f).

Dated: October 14, 1994.

David B. Allen,

Acting Regional Director, Region 7, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 94-26413 Filed 10-24-94; 8:45 am]

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