Information Relating to Bowhead Whales; U.S. Implementation of Bowhead Whale Strike Quota for 1994

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Docket No. 940256-4055; I.D. 011494A]

Information Relating to Bowhead Whales; U.S. Implementation of

Bowhead Whale Strike Quota for 1994

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), NOAA, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information and request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: Information is published by NOAA for use in the development of

the U.S. position before the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on

the aboriginal/subsistence take of bowhead whales and in the domestic

allocation of the existing IWC quota for bowhead whales to U.S.

natives. NOAA is soliciting public comment on the proposed allocation

of the IWC bowhead whale catch limit in 1994.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 13, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be mailed to the Office of

International Affairs, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1335 East-

West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. A list of documents reviewed for

this action may be obtained on request, and the documents examined

during business hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Chu, (301) 713-2276.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NOAA is responsible for implementation and

enforcement of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361-1407),

the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C 1531-1543) and the Whaling

Convention Act 16 U.S.C. 916-916l). In addition, it provides staff

support to the U.S. Commissioner to the IWC and to the IWC Interagency

Committee. Consistent with these responsibilities, NOAA develops

positions for implementation of the aboriginal/subsistence harvest of

bowhead whales under Paragraph 13 of the Schedule to the International

Convention on the Regulation of Whaling, December 2, 1946, 62 Stat.

1716, T.I.A.S. No. 1849 (entered into force, November 10, 1948).

In order to provide for review and comment by the public of the

data upon which the U.S. positions are based, the following information

is provided: (1) The IWC catch level available for the U.S. aboriginal/

subsistence bowhead whale harvest for 1992-1994; (2) a summary of

available bowhead scientific information, including estimates of

current population level and annual recruitment rates; (3) a summary of

information on the nature and extent of aboriginal/subsistence need;

(4) the level of aboriginal/subsistence harvest limits which could be

implemented domestically; and (5) notice of the availability of those

documents reviewed by NOAA and relied on by the Under Secretary for

Oceans and Atmosphere in making his finding on the range of harvest

limits. NOAA is soliciting public comment on the proposed domestic

implementation of the IWC bowhead whale catch limit for 1994.

1. Catch Level

At the 43rd Annual Meeting of the IWC, Reykjavik, Iceland, May 27-

31, 1991, the following catch limit was established for aboriginal/

subsistence whaling:

``The taking of bowhead whales from the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort

Seas stock by aborigines is permitted, but only when the meat and

products of such whales are to be used exclusively for local

consumption by the aborigines and further provided that: For each of

the years 1992, 1993, and 1994 combined, the total number of whales

struck shall not exceed 141, except that: (A) Any unused strikes up

to ten percent of the total strikes allowed in the years 1989, 1990,

and 1991 combined shall be carried forward from those years and

added to the combined total of strikes for the years 1992, 1993, and

1994; and (B) in any one year no more than 54 whales shall be struck

and no more than 41 shall be landed. (Schedule to the Convention,

Paragraph 13(b)(1)(i).)

2. Scientific Information

At the 1991 IWC meeting, the Scientific Committee agreed that the

Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Sea population of bowhead whales is between

6,400 and 9,200 animals, with a most likely estimate of 7,500 whales. A

minimum estimate of the replacement yield (RY) was calculated to be 92

whales per year, and the most likely replacement yield for the

population size of 7,500 is 254 whales per year. The replacement yield

defines the number of new whales annually joining the adult population,

and it is assumed that, all other things being constant, up to this

number could be taken from the population without causing it to

decline.

3. Aboriginal/Subsistence Need

The Department of the Interior (DOI) conducted its analysis of the

nature and extent of aboriginal/subsistence need for bowhead whales and

whaling in 1983, and the IWC adopted this method for quantifying need

in 1986. DOI contracted for a new study on the quantification of

subsistence and cultural need for bowhead whales in 1987, which was

presented at the 1988 meeting. The new study presented the cultural and

subsistence need of nine Alaska Eskimo whaling villages to take 41

landed bowhead whales. This quantification of need used the same method

of calculation accepted by the IWC in 1986. This method derives the

mean annual number of bowhead whales landed per capita during a

specified historical period and multiplies this mean by the current

Eskimo population of nine Alaska Eskimo whaling villages. The result of

this calculation is the total number of bowhead whales these Eskimo

whaling villages need to land each year in order to meet their cultural

and subsistence need.

When the IWC adopted this method of quantifying need, members of

the IWC Aboriginal Subsistence Subcommittee noted that the

quantification was based on a large but incomplete series of data on

historical bowhead landings. It was also noted that the quantification

used an inconsistent data base period. The DOI study was initiated to

correct these deficiencies. To complete the series of data on

historical bowhead whale landings to the extent possible, the study

undertook a comprehensive review of available published and unpublished

sources of bowhead landings. Remaining gaps are unlikely to be

significantly reduced with further searches for historic data on

bowhead landings. The data resulting from this study also permitted the

use of a consistent historical base period for the calculation of need.

In the prior analysis, the base periods varied from 1940 to 1970 and

1950 to 1970. The base period now begins in 1910, the year following

the cessation of commercial whaling in the Arctic, and ends in 1969,

prior to the period of unusually high bowhead harvests in the unique

economic circumstances of the 1970s. Therefore, applying the additional

landed bowhead data and the longer period to the accepted method of

quantifying need, results in a current cultural and subsistence need of

41 landed whales.

4. Domestic Harvest Range

The IWC management scheme for aboriginal/subsistence whaling

provides (in Schedule paragraph 13(a)(2)): ``For stocks below the

maximum sustainable yield (MSY) level but above a certain minimum

level, aboriginal/subsistence catches shall be permitted so long as

they are set at levels which allow whale stocks to move to the MSY

level.'' Given the above-stated estimates of replacement yields of 92

(lower bound) to 254 whales for the point estimate recruited into the

population annually, an aboriginal/subsistence catch can be permitted

in 1994.

The catch limit for bowhead whales for the years 1992-1994,

established by the IWC, is 141 strikes plus 13 strikes carried over

from the previous block quota with no more than 54 whales struck and no

more than 41 landed in any one year. Of the 154 total strikes for 1992-

1994, 50 bowhead whales were struck and 38 were landed in 1992, and 52

were struck and 41 landed in 1993. Therefore, the number under

consideration for allocation to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission

for the 1994 catch limit is 52 strikes or 41 landed whales.

5. Documents Reviewed

A list of the documents reviewed for this action may be obtained on

request (see ADDRESSES). The documents are available for public

inspection during the 30-day public comment period at the same address.

(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 916, 1361-1407, 1531-43)

Dated: January 14, 1994.

D. James Baker,

Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.

[FR Doc. 94-5891 Filed 3-11-94; 8:45 am]

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