MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



lions, Pacific harbor seals, and Steller sea lions 

 incidental to the removal of three underground and 

 two aboveground storage tanks at the Cape Flattery 

 Light Station on Tatoosh Island in Washington State. 

 Notice of receipt of the application and the Service's 

 intent to issue the incidental harassment authorization 

 were published in the Federal Register on 4 June 

 1998. The Marine Mammal Commission, in consulta- 

 tion with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, re- 

 viewed the request and provided comments to the 

 Service by letter of 1 July 1998. 



From the information provided in the application 

 and the Federal Registernotice, it appeared likely that 

 the removal of the storage tanks would result, at most, 

 in taking a small number of pinnipeds by harassment, 

 provided the Coast Guard scheduled the work to avoid 

 the pupping and molting seasons and that no accidents 

 occur {e.g., if the contents of the storage tanks are 

 hazardous, no contents are accidentally released into 

 the environment). The Commission recommended 

 that the Service ensure that (1) the work is conducted 

 as scheduled to avoid the pupping and molting sea- 

 sons; and (2) a sufficient number of qualified observ- 

 ers is used to verify that no more than the authorized 

 number of seals is harassed and that the effects are in 

 fact negligible. 



Notice of issuance of the requested authorization 

 was published in the Federal Register on 24 August 

 1998. The Federal Register notice indicated that the 

 incidental harassment authorization required the work 

 to be completed before the beginning of the harbor 

 seal pupping season. It noted that a single observer 

 should be able to monitor the haul-out sites that could 

 be affected and explained the rationale for that conclu- 

 sion. The Commission concurs with the Service's 

 determinations. 



Request for Authorization to Harass Small Niun- 

 bers of Marine Mammals Incidental to Explosive 

 Testing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida — On 20 



July 1998 the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 received an application from the Air Force Develop- 

 ment Test Center at Eglin Air Force Base for authori- 

 zation to harass small numbers of bottlenose dolphins, 

 spotted dolphins, and possibly other cetaceans inciden- 

 tal to explosive testing of obstacle and mine clearance 

 systems in waters off Eglin Air Force Base. Notice 



of receipt of the application and proposed incidental 

 harassment authorization were published in the Feder- 

 al Register on 13 October 1998. The Commission, in 

 consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, 

 reviewed and on 13 November 1998 commented on 

 the application and a related environmental assessment 

 provided by the applicant. 



The Commission concurred with the Service's 

 determination that the planned testing would have no 

 more than short-term negligible effects on the poten- 

 tially affected marine mammals, provided the mitiga- 

 tion measures described in the application were 

 carried out. The Commission noted that the Air 

 Force, if it had not already done so, should consult 

 with the Fish and Wildlife Service to confirm that 

 manatees were unlikely to be present in or near the 

 test site at the time the tests were scheduled to be 

 conducted. 



Notice of issuance of the requested incidental 

 harassment authorization was published in the Federal 

 Register on 8 December 1998. Among other things, 

 the notice indicated that the Air Force had consulted 

 with the Fish and Wildlife Service to confirm that 

 manatees were unlikely to be present in the test area 

 at the time of the year that the tests are authorized. 



Request for Authorization to Harass Small Num- 

 bers of Harbor Seals Incidental to Replacement of 

 Dock Facilities on McNeil Island — On 18 Septem- 

 ber 1998 the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 received an application from the Washington State 

 Department of Corrections for authorization to harass 

 small numbers of harbor seals incidental to demolition 

 and reconstruction of a dock at its Corrections Center 

 on McNeil Island in Puget Sound, Washington. The 

 Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, had reviewed and on 8 December 

 1994 provided comments on an earlier request for 

 authorization to take small numbers of harbor seals 

 incidental to this project. The incidental harassment 

 authorization had been issued in January 1995, but 

 that one-year authorization expired before the dock 

 facility could be removed and reconstructed. 



The Commission's staff reviewed the 29 October 

 1998 Federal Register notice and, by letter of 1 

 December 1998, advised the Service that some of the 



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