[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 236 (Thursday, December 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76704-76705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31005]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XA077
Endangered Species; File Nos. 13307, 13544, and 14586
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Issuance of permit and permit modifications.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued a permit and two
permit modifications to take sea turtles and marine mammals for
purposes of scientific research.
ADDRESSES: The permit and related documents are available for review
upon written request or by appointment in the following offices:
Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD
20910; phone (301) 713-2289; fax (301) 713-0376; and Southeast Region,
NMFS, 263 13th Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; phone (727) 824-
5312; fax (727) 824-5309.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Hapeman or Amy Sloan, (301) 713-
2289.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 3, 2010, notice was published in
the Federal Register (75 FR 9580) that a request for a scientific
research permit to take sea turtles and marine mammals had been
submitted by Jeanette Wyneken, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton,
FL (File No. 14586). On March 3, 2010, notice was published in the
Federal Register (75 FR 9580) that a modification of Permit No. 13544,
issued April 17, 2009 (74 FR 18354), had been requested by Jeffrey
Schmid, PhD, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Naples, FL, for sea
turtle research. On April 1, 2010, notice was published in the Federal
Register (75 FR 16428) that a modification of Permit No. 13307-01,
issued July 11, 2008 (73 FR 39950), had been requested by Kristen Hart,
PhD, USGS, Davie, L, for sea turtle research. The requested permit and
permit modifications have been issued under the authority of the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.), the regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting
of endangered and threatened species (50 CFR parts 222-226); and, for
Permit No. 14586, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended
(16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the regulations governing the taking and
importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216).
Permit No. 14586 authorizes the permit holder to annually collect
baseline data regarding the abundance and distribution of cetaceans
[numerous non-listed species and endangered fin (Balaenoptera
physalus), sperm (Physeter macrocephalus), humpback (Megaptera
novaengliae), and North Atlantic right (Eubalaena glacialis) whales]
and sea turtles [leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), loggerhead
(Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys
imbricata), and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)] in the Straits of
Florida off Florida's southeast coast. Research is authorized to occur
before, during, and after ocean energy technology testing via vessel
and aerial surveys. The permit expires on November 30, 2015.
[[Page 76705]]
Permit No. 13544 authorizes the permit holder to characterize the
aggregations of Kemp's ridley, loggerhead, green, and hawksbill sea
turtles in the nearshore waters of Lee County in southwest Florida by
annually performing capture, weighing, passive integrated transponder
(PIT) tagging, biopsy sampling; and for subsets of animals, fecal
sampling and external tagging). The modified permit authorizes
researchers to additionally satellite tag a subset of Kemp's ridley and
loggerhead sea turtles to determine their seasonal distribution and
possible migrations in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. The permit
modification is valid until the permit expires on April 30, 2014.
Permit No. 13307-01 authorizes the permit holder to addresses fine-
scale temporal and spatial patterns of sea turtle habitat use, ecology,
and genetic origin within the Dry Tortugas National Park by annually
capturing, weighing, flipper tagging, PIT tagging, and sampling (blood,
tissue, feces, and lavage) green, hawksbill, and loggerhead sea
turtles, a subset of which may be externally tagged with satellite and
acoustic transmitters. The permit modification increases the number of
green sea turtles that may be captured to 80 per year due to the high
rate of recent capture success. The modification is valid until the
permit expires on June 30, 2013.
Issuance of these permits, as required by the ESA, was based on a
finding that such permits (1) Were applied for in good faith, (2) will
not operate to the disadvantage of such endangered or threatened
species, and (3) are consistent with the purposes and policies set
forth in section 2 of the ESA.
Dated: December 3, 2010.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-31005 Filed 12-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P