In response to a request under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended, from Turnagain Marine Construction, the Service proposes to authorize nonlethal incidental take by harassment of small numbers of Southcentral Alaska stock northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) between July 19, 2024, and July 18, 2025. The applicant has requested this authorization for take by harassment that may result from activities associated with pile driving and marine construction activities on the western shore of Passage Canal in Whittier, Alaska. We estimate that this project may result in the nonlethal incidental take by harassment of up to 162 northern sea otters from the Southcentral stock. This proposed authorization, if finalized, will be for up to 17 takes of northern sea otters by Level A harassment and 145 takes of northern sea otters by Level B harassment. Neither the applicant nor the FWS anticipated any lethal take, and the FWS does not propose to authorize any lethal take.
The proposed incidental harassment authorization and supporting documents are available for public review and comment at www.regulations.gov, docket number FWS-R7-ES-2024-0054. The public comment period is from July 23, 2024 to August 22, 2024. Once the public comment period closes, we will review all submitted comments prior to making a final determination.
Comments may be submitted electronically or by U.S. Mail:
Electronic submission: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. FWS-R7-ES-2024-0054.
U.S. mail: Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R7-ES-2024-0054, Policy and Regulations Branch, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041–3803
All comments received on a proposed authorization during the comment period will be posted at http://www.regulations.gov. You may request that we withhold personal identifying information from public review; however, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
