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AGENCY:
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION:
Notice; issuance of a modified incidental harassment authorization.
SUMMARY:
In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued a modified incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to incidentally harass marine mammals during construction associated with Sand Island Pile Dikes Repairs on the Columbia River.
DATES:
This modified IHA is effective through July 31, 2025.
ADDRESSES:
Electronic copies of the application and supporting documents, as well as a list of the references cited in this document, may be obtained online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-army-corps-engineers-sand-island-pile-dikes-repairs-columbia. In case of problems accessing these documents, please call the contact listed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert Pauline, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The MMPA prohibits the “take” of marine mammals, with certain exceptions. Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial fishing) within a specified geographical region if certain findings are made and either regulations are issued or, if the taking is limited to harassment, a notice of a proposed incidental take authorization may be provided to the public for review.
Authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS finds that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses (where relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other “means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact” on the affected species or stocks and their habitat, paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance, and on the availability of such species or stocks for taking for certain subsistence uses (referred to in shorthand as “mitigation”); and requirements pertaining to the mitigation, monitoring and reporting of such takings are set forth.
History of Request
On March 4, 2022, NMFS received a request from the USACE for two consecutive IHAs to take marine mammals incidental to the Sand Island Pile Dikes Repairs Project on the Columbia River over the course of 2 years. The USACE's request was for take of seven species of marine mammals by Level B harassment and, for a subset of these species (harbor seal ( Phoca vitulina) and harbor porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena)), Level A harassment. On August 22, 2023, NMFS published a Federal Register notice (87 FR 51346) announcing the issuance of the IHAs, which were valid for year 1 from August 1, 2023 through July 31, 2024 and for year 2 from August 1, 2024 through July 31, 2025.
On August 19, 2024, NMFS received a request from the USACE to modify the year 2 IHA. Following receipt of additional information, NMFS accepted the request on September 11, 2024. The original year 2 IHA authorized, by Level B harassment only, six takes of humpback whale (from the California/Oregon/Washington stock designated at the time; Megaptera novaeangliae) and two takes from the West Coast Transient stock of killer whale ( Orcinus orca).
Sightings of humpback whales have increased in the work area from previous years. Humpback whale feeding groups have begun utilizing the mouth of the Columbia River as foraging ground. The USACE had recorded four potential takes of humpback whale by Level B harassment as of September 11, 2024 after 24 days of in-water pile driving work, with 80 in-water days remaining. In addition, there have been several recent sightings of transient killer whales in the area. These sightings represent a change to occurrence data considered by NMFS and which informed the original take estimates. Therefore, the USACE is requesting a modification to the year 2 authorization to increase the authorized take of humpback whale and killer whale, by Level B harassment only.
Description of the Activity and Anticipated Impacts
There are no changes to the specified activity or to the mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements as described for the original year 2 IHA (87 FR 39481, July 1, 2022). Please see the additional relevant documents related to the issuance of the initial IHA, including the USACE's application and the notice of issuance of the IHA (87 FR 51346, August 22, 2022) (available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-army-corps-engineers-sand-island-pile-dikes-repairs-columbia ) for more detailed descriptions.
Detailed Description of the Action
A detailed description of the construction activities can be found in the aforementioned documents associated with the issuance of the initial year 2 IHA. The location and general nature of the activities are identical to those described in the previous documents. As of September 11, 2024, 24 days in-water work had been completed out of a projected total of 104 days.
Description of Marine Mammals
A description of the marine mammals in the area of the activities can be found in these previous documents, which remains applicable to this modified IHA as well. In addition, NMFS has reviewed the draft 2023 Stock Assessment Reports (SARs; Young et al., 2023; available at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessment-reports ), information on relevant Unusual Mortality Events, and recent scientific literature, and incorporated that into table 1 below.
Table 1 lists all species or stocks for which take is expected and authorized to be authorized for this activity, and summarizes information related to the population or stock, including regulatory status under the MMPA and Endangered Species Act (ESA) and potential biological removal (PBR), where known. PBR is defined by the MMPA as the maximum number of animals, not including natural mortalities, that may be removed from a marine mammal stock while allowing that stock to reach or maintain its optimum sustainable population (as described in NMFS' SARs). While no serious injury or mortality is anticipated or authorized here, PBR and annual serious injury and mortality from anthropogenic sources are included here as gross indicators of the status of the species or stocks and other threats.
Marine mammal abundance estimates presented in this document represent the total number of individuals that make up a given stock or the total number estimated within a particular study or survey area. NMFS' stock abundance estimates for most species represent the total estimate of individuals within the geographic area, if known, that comprises that stock. For some species, this geographic area may extend beyond U.S. waters. All managed stocks in this region are assessed in NMFS' Alaska Marine Mammal SARs. All values presented in table 1 are the most recent available at the time of publication (including from the draft 2023 SARs) and are available online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessments. Note that the stock abundances of humpback whale, harbor porpoise, and Steller sea lion have updated since the Federal Register notice of issuance was published (87 FR 51346, August 22, 2022). The updates figures are reflected in table 1.
Table 1—Species Likely Impacted by the Specified Activities
| Common name | Scientific name | Stock | ESA/MMPA status; strategic (Y/N) | Stock abundance (CV, N min , most recent abundance survey) | PBR | Annual M/SI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order Cetartiodactyla—Cetacea—Superfamily Mysticeti (baleen whales) | ||||||
| Family Balaenopteridae (rorquals): | ||||||
| Humpback whale | Megaptera novaeangliae | Central America/Southern Mexico—California/Oregon/Washington | E, D, Y | 1,494 (0.171, 1,284, 2021) | 3.5 | 14.9 |
| Mainland Mexico—CA/OR/WA | T, D, Y | 3,477 (0.101, 3,185, 2018) | 43 | 22 | ||
| Superfamily Odontoceti (toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises) | ||||||
| Family Delphinidae: | ||||||
| Killer Whale | Orcinus orca | West Coast Transient | -, -, N | 349 (N/A, 349, 2018) | 3.5 | 0.4 |
| Family Phocoenidae (porpoises): | ||||||
| Harbor Porpoise | Phocoena phocoena | Northern Oregon/Washington Coast | -, -, N | 22,074 (0.391, 16,068, 2024) | 161 | 3.2 |
| Order Carnivora—Superfamily Pinnipedia | ||||||
| Family Otariidae (eared seals and sea lions): | ||||||
| California Sea Lion | Zalophus californianus | U.S. | -, -, N | 257,606 (N/A, 233,515, 2014) | 14,011 | >321 |
| Steller Sea Lion | Eumetopias jubatus | Eastern | -, -, N | 36,308 (N/A, 36,308, 2022) | 2,592 | 112 |
| Family Phocidae (earless seals): | ||||||
| Harbor Seal | Phoca vitulina | Oregon/Washington Coast | -, -, N | 24,732 (UNK, UNK, 1999) | UND | 10.6 |
| Northern Elephant Seal | Mirounga angustirostris | California Breeding | -, -, N | 187,386 (N/A, 85,369, 2013) | 5,122 | 13.7 |
| ESA status: Endangered (E), Threatened (T)/MMPA status: Depleted (D). A dash (-) indicates that the species is not listed under the ESA or designated as depleted under the MMPA. Under the MMPA, a strategic stock is one for which the level of direct human-caused mortality exceeds PBR or which is determined to be declining and likely to be listed under the ESA within the foreseeable future. Any species or stock listed under the ESA is automatically designated under the MMPA as depleted and as a strategic stock. | ||||||
| NMFS marine mammal stock assessment reports online at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessment-reports-region. CV is coefficient of variation; N min is the minimum estimate of stock abundance. | ||||||
| These values, found in NMFS's SARs, represent annual levels of human-caused mortality plus serious injury from all sources combined ( e.g., commercial fisheries, ship strike). Annual mortality/serious injury (M/SI) often cannot be determined precisely and is in some cases presented as a minimum value or range. | ||||||
| Based on counts of individual animals identified from photo-identification catalogues. Surveys for abundance estimates of these stocks are conducted infrequently. | ||||||
| Nest is best estimate of counts, which have not been corrected for animals at sea during abundance surveys. Estimates provided are for the U.S. only. | ||||||
| The abundance estimate for this stock is greater than 8 years old and is therefore not considered current. PBR is considered undetermined for this stock, as there is no current minimum abundance estimate for use in calculation. We nevertheless present the most recent abundance estimates, as these represent the best available information for use in this document. |
Table 2—Authorized Take of Marine Mammals by Level A and Level B Harassment by Year, by Species and Stock and Percent of Take by Stock