Environmental Impact Statement for Federal Activities to Recover the Cook Inlet, Alaska, Stock of Beluga Whale, Including the Management of a Subsistence Harvest

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 111699B]

Environmental Impact Statement for Federal Activities to Recover

the Cook Inlet, Alaska, Stock of Beluga Whale, Including the Management

of a Subsistence Harvest

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of intent; scoping meetings; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intent to prepare a programmatic

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Federal activities necessary to

halt the observed decline and promote recovery of the Cook Inlet,

Alaska, stock of beluga whale. This will include, but is not limited

to, the management of the subsistence harvest by Alaska Natives.

NMFS will hold a scoping meeting to receive public input on

structuring the

[[Page 66902]]

alternatives and the range of issues to be assessed in the programmatic

EIS. In addition to holding the scoping meeting, NMFS is accepting

written comments on the same topics.

DATES: Written comments must be received by December 30, 1999. A

scoping meeting will be held in Anchorage, Alaska at the following time

and location: December 16, 1999, 1-5 p.m., Anchorage Federal Office

Building, Room 154, 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, AK.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to be included on a mailing

list of persons interested in the programmatic EIS should be sent to

Mr. Brad Smith, 222 West 7th Avenue, Box 43, Anchorage,

Alaska, 99513, or sent via facsimile to (907) 271-3030. Comments may

also be hand-delivered to NMFS at Room 517 in the Anchorage Federal

Office Building, 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska.

Comments will not be accepted if submitted via electronic mail or via

the Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Smith, (907) 271-5006.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A relatively small, isolated stock of beluga

whales exists in south-central Alaska. This stock is found primarily in

upper Cook Inlet during ice-free periods (April though October), often

concentrating near the mouths of rivers. This stock is called the Cook

Inlet Beluga (CIB) stock because the entire stock is believed to occur

in Cook Inlet during the ice-free period, although its winter range is

presently poorly understood. Genetic and distributional analyses by

NMFS indicate that the CIB stock is genetically isolated from the four

other beluga whale stocks in Alaska and constitutes a distinct

population.

Early estimates of stock size, including estimates by Alaska Native

hunters, ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 beluga whales. The most recent

estimate by NMFS is 347 whales from 1998, indicating a decline of

nearly 50 percent below the estimate by NMFS of 653 for 1994. NMFS has

proposed that the CIB be designated as a depleted stock (64 FR 56298,

19 October 1999) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

The MMPA provides an exemption for Alaska Natives from prohibitions

on the taking of marine mammals. The CIB stock is hunted by Alaska

Natives for subsistence uses, including food and traditional

handicrafts. Data collected by Alaska Native Organizations (ANOs) and

NMFS indicate subsistence harvest has recently been at unsustainable

levels. Subsistence harvests averaged 37 whales per year between 1994

and 1998. This estimate does not include animals that were struck and

lost which may occur at a ratio of 1-2 whales for each whale landed.

The MMPA allows ANOs to enter into agreements with NMFS to conserve

marine mammals and provide for co-management of subsistence uses.

Several such groups have expressed interest in entering into a co-

management agreement with NMFS for the CIB stock. It is possible that

such an agreement would include annual harvest levels determined under

a harvest management plan, as well as means to allocate the harvest

among Native hunters.

The National Marine Fisheries Service may regulate the subsistence

hunting of a marine mammal when (1) that marine mammal is designated as

depleted under the MMPA, and (2) specific regulations have been

promulgated for this management. NMFS has taken separate action to

designate the CIB stock as depleted and may, therefore, proceed with

regulations to manage the Native harvest.

The National Environmental Policy Act requires preparation of an

EIS for any major Federal action that may significantly impact the

quality of the human environment. NMFS finds that an EIS is appropriate

in this matter.

NMFS will assess the potential impacts of Federal activities

necessary to halt the observed decline and promote recovery of the CIB

stock of whales, including the management of a subsistence harvest by

Alaska Natives. In a review of existing information, NMFS does not find

that non-harvest factors, such as degradation of habitat, appear to

have caused the rapid decline of the stock; however, NMFS has not

conducted research designed specifically to determine the effects of

habitat degradation on the stock. NMFS reviewed existing information on

fish runs, oil and gas activities, sewage problems, and other sources

of contaminants. The existing information suggests that beluga are not

stressed by anthropogenic factors in Cook Inlet. The size of fish runs,

especially salmon, may have some effect on the population; however,

food limitations do not appear capable of causing the declines of

beluga noted in recent years. Consequently, the level of harvest

between 1994 and 1998 appear to be a significant factor in the observed

declines in the population. Therefore, initial recovery actions would

likely be directed at developing a subsistence harvest that would be

consistent with recovery goals for the stock.

An assessment of the harvest would use a model based on three

alternatives: (1) Maximizing short-term opportunity for subsistence

harvests and prolonging the recovery of the stock; (2) maximizing the

recovery of the stock by prohibiting harvest until the stock had

recovered to optimum sustainable population levels; or (3) allowing an

intermediate level of harvest that would provide some subsistence use

and promote recovery of the stock faster than alternative (1) but

slower than alternative (2).

The cumulative impacts section of the EIS would review the combined

impacts of Federal and non-Federal activities on the CIB stock of

beluga whale and their habitat. This would include, but not be limited

to, the effects of fishing, vessel activities, industrial development,

and oil exploration and development. The environmental consequences

section of the EIS will also assess the impacts of the various CIB

harvest management strategies (as described above) on the human

environment. Major issues include the impact of subsistence removals on

this stock; the impacts of regulated harvests on the traditional and

cultural values of Alaska Natives; methods to allocate a limited

harvest among Native groups and individuals; and the social and

economic impacts of various population levels of the CIB stock of

whales. Scoping for the programmatic EIS begins with publication of

this document. To identify the scope of issues that will be addressed

in the EIS and to identify potential impacts on the quality of the

human environment, public participation is invited by providing written

comments to NMFS and attending the scoping meeting. A scoping meeting

will be held in Anchorage, Alaska at the following time and location:

December 16, 1999, 1-5 p.m., Anchorage Federal Office Building, Room

154, 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, AK.

Special Accommodations

The meeting will be physically accessible to people with

disabilities. Special accommodations requests, such as requests for

sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids, should be

directed to Brad Smith (907) 271-5006 at least 5 days before the

meeting date.

Dated: November 22, 1999.

Art Jeffers,

Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-31069 Filed 11-29-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-F