Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Conducting Precision Strike Weapons Testing and Training by Eglin Air Force Base in the Gulf of Mexico

NMFS, upon application from Eglin Air Force Base (Eglin AFB), is issuing regulations to govern the unintentional takings of marine mammals incidental to conducting Precision Strike Weapons (PSW) testing and training in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Issuance of regulations and Letters of Authorization (LOAs) under these regulations governing the unintentional incidental takes of marine mammals in connection with particular activities is required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) when the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), after notice and opportunity for comment, finds, as here, that such takes will have a negligible impact on the species and stocks of marine mammals and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of them for subsistence uses. These regulations do not authorize Eglin AFB's PSW activities as such authorization is not within the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Rather, NMFS' regulations together with a Letter of Authorization (LOA) authorize the unintentional incidental take of marine mammals in connection with this activity and prescribe methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species and their habitat, and on the availability of the species for subsistence uses.