Data / Federal rules / 2025-11778

Marine Mammals; Incidental Take of Polar Bears During Specified Activities; North Slope, Alaska

The Fish and Wildlife Service published this final rule in the Federal Register on June 26, 2025. It took effect on June 26, 2025.

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What the agency says

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are revising a portion of our regulations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act pertaining to incidental take of marine mammals. These regulations, codified at 50 CFR part 18, subpart J, authorize the nonlethal, incidental, unintentional take by harassment of small numbers of polar bears from the Southern Beaufort Sea stock and Pacific walruses during year-round oil and gas industry activities in the Beaufort Sea (Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf) and adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Such take may result from oil and gas exploration, development, production, and transportation activities occurring through August 5, 2026. The revisions made by this final rule authorize incidental Level A harassment of polar bears in addition to the incidental Level B harassment of polar bears and Pacific walruses already authorized. No lethal take is authorized under this rule.

Key facts

Document number: 2025-11778
Type: Final rule
Action: Final rule
Agency: Interior Department; Fish and Wildlife Service
Published: June 26, 2025
Takes effect: June 26, 2025
Dates: This rule is effective June 26, 2025 and remains effective through August 5, 2026.
Docket: Docket No. FWS-R7-ES-2024-0140; FXES111607MRG01-245-FF07CAMM00
Regulation ID (RIN): 1018-BI09
Code of Federal Regulations: 50 CFR 18
Topics: Administrative practice and procedure; Alaska; Imports; Indians; Marine mammals; Oil and gas exploration; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Transportation
Significant: Yes, under Executive Order 12866
Pages: 35

The document on federalregister.gov PDF

Other documents from the Fish and Wildlife Service

Document	Type	Published
Marine Mammals; Incidental Take of Polar Bears and Pacific Walruses in the Beaufort Sea and North Slope of Alaska 2026-21371	Final rule	Oct 19
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Four Species Not Warranted for Listing as Endangered or Threatened Species 2026-20315	Proposed rule	Oct 5
General Provisions; Revised List of Birds Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act 2026-20123	Proposed rule	Oct 1
National Wildlife Refuge System; 2026-2027 Station-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations; Correction 2026-19723	Final rule	Sep 25
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of Gila Chub From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 2026-18470	Proposed rule	Sep 10
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Nine Species Not Warranted for Listing as Endangered or Threatened Species 2026-18123	Final rule	Sep 4
National Wildlife Refuge System; 2026-2027 Station-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations 2026-17895	Final rule	Sep 1
Process for Authorizing Seasonal Migratory Game Bird Hunting 2026-17733 · significant	Final rule	Aug 31

Everything from the Fish and Wildlife Service · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on alaska · Rules on imports · Published in June 2025

Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.