[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 30, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66901-66902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31069]
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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.
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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
