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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3185-3186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00554]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XE567]

Whaling Provisions; Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling Quotas

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; notification of quota for bowhead whales.

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SUMMARY: NMFS notifies the public of the aboriginal subsistence whaling 
quota for bowhead whales assigned to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 
Commission (AEWC), and of limitations on the use of the quota deriving 
from regulations of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). For 
2025, the AEWC quota is 93 bowhead whales struck. This quota and other 
applicable limitations govern the harvest of bowhead whales by licensed 
whaling captains of the AEWC.

DATES: Applicable January 14, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, 
National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madison Harris, (202) 480-4592.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Aboriginal subsistence whaling in the United 
States is governed by the Whaling Convention Act (WCA) (16 U.S.C. 916 
et seq.). Under the WCA, IWC regulations shall become effective with 
respect to all persons and vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States within 90 days of notification from the IWC Secretariat 
of an amendment to the IWC Schedule (16 U.S.C. 916k). Regulations that 
implement the WCA, found at 50 CFR part 230, require NOAA's Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries to publish, at least annually, aboriginal 
subsistence whaling quotas and any other limitations on aboriginal 
subsistence whaling deriving from regulations of the IWC.
    At the 67th meeting of the IWC in 2018, the Commission set catch 
limits for aboriginal subsistence use of bowhead whales from the 
Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock for the years 2019-2025. The 
aboriginal subsistence whaling catch limits were based on a joint 
request by Denmark on behalf of Greenland, the Russian Federation, St. 
Vincent and the Grenadines, and the United States, accompanied by 
documentation concerning the needs of the Native groups.
    The IWC set a 7-year block catch limit of 392 bowhead whales 
landed. For each of the years 2019 through 2025, the number of bowhead 
whales struck may not exceed 67, with unused strikes from the 3 prior 
quota blocks carried forward and added to the annual strike quota of 
subsequent years, provided that no more than 50 percent of the annual 
strike limit is added to the strike quota for any 1 year. For the 2025 
bowhead harvest, there are 33 strikes available for carry-forward, so 
the combined strike quota set by the IWC for 2025 is 100 (67 + 33).
    Both Alaska and Russian Natives hunt the bowhead whale, and thus 
the IWC quota for the bowhead whale is shared between the two Native 
groups. To account for the shared quota, the United States and Russia 
established a cooperative arrangement to monitor the quota.
    NOAA has assigned 93 strikes to the AEWC through its cooperative 
agreement with the AEWC, accounting for bowhead whales that may be 
hunted by Russian Natives. The AEWC will in turn allocate these strikes 
among the 11 villages whose cultural and subsistence needs have been 
documented, and will ensure that AEWC whaling captains use no more than 
93 strikes.
    At its 67th meeting, the IWC also provided for an automatic 
extension of aboriginal subsistence whaling catch limits under certain 
circumstances. Commencing in 2026, bowhead whale catch limits shall be 
extended every 6 years provided: (a) the IWC Scientific Committee 
advises in 2024, and every 6

[[Page 3186]]

years thereafter, that such limits will not harm the stock; (b) the 
Commission does not receive a request from the United States or the 
Russian Federation for a change in the bowhead whale catch limits based 
on need; and (c) the Commission determines that the United States and 
the Russian Federation have complied with the IWC's approved timeline 
and that the information provided represents a status quo continuation 
of the hunts. At its 69th meeting in September 2024, the IWC reviewed 
the aboriginal subsistence whaling extension criteria and determined by 
consensus that all of the conditions had been met, and thus agreed to 
extend the ASW strike/catch limits for 6 years, for the period 2026-
2031.
Other Limitations
    The IWC regulations, as well as the NOAA regulation at 50 CFR 
230.4(c), forbid the taking of calves or any whale accompanied by a 
calf.
    NOAA regulations (at 50 CFR 230.4) also contain other prohibitions 
relating to aboriginal subsistence whaling, some of which are 
summarized here:
     No person, other than licensed whaling captains or crew 
under the control of those captains, shall engage in aboriginal 
subsistence whaling.
     No whaling captain shall engage in whaling that is not in 
accordance with the regulations of the IWC, NOAA, and the relevant 
cooperative agreement.
     No whaling captain shall engage in whaling without an 
adequate crew or without adequate supplies and equipment.
     No person may receive money for participating in the hunt.
     No person may sell or offer for sale whale products from 
whales taken in the hunt, except for authentic articles of Native 
handicrafts.
     Captains cannot continue to whale after the relevant quota 
is reached, after the season has been closed, or if their licenses have 
been suspended.
     No captain shall engage in whaling in a wasteful manner.

    Dated: January 7, 2025.
Alexa Cole,
Director, Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-00554 Filed 1-13-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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