[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 25, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-26413]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: October 25, 1994]
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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]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
