Taking of Threatened or Endangered Marine Mammals Incidental to Commercial Fishing Operations; Issuance of Permit

Résumé

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS hereby issues a permit for a period of three years to authorize the incidental, but not intentional, taking of individuals of the Central North Pacific (CNP) stock of endangered humpback whales by the Hawaii-based longline fisheries (deep-set and shallow-set). This authorization is based on determinations that mortality and serious injury of humpback whales incidental to commercial fishing will have a negligible impact on the CNP stock of humpback whales, that a recovery plan has been developed, that a monitoring program is established, that vessels in the fisheries are registered, and that the MMPA does not require a take reduction plan (TRP) at this time.