[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 7]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR216.41]

[Page 45-47]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
  CHAPTER II--NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND 
           ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 216_REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE TAKING AND IMPORTING OF MARINE 
 
                      Subpart D_Special Exceptions
 
Sec. 216.41  Permits for scientific research and enhancement.

    In addition to the requirements under Sec. Sec. 216.33 through 
216.38, permits for scientific research and enhancement are governed by 
the following requirements:
    (a) Applicant. (1) For each application submitted under this 
section, the applicant shall be the principal investigator responsible 
for the overall research or enhancement activity. If the research or 
enhancement activity will involve a periodic change in the principal 
investigator or is otherwise controlled by and dependent upon another 
entity, the applicant may be the institution, governmental entity, or 
corporation responsible for supervision of the principal investigator.
    (2) For any scientific research involving captive maintenance, the 
application must include supporting documentation from the person 
responsible for the facility or other temporary enclosure.
    (b) Issuance Criteria. For the Office Director to issue any 
scientific research or enhancement permit, the applicant must 
demonstrate that:
    (1) The proposed activity furthers a bona fide scientific or 
enhancement purpose;
    (2) If the lethal taking of marine mammals is proposed:
    (i) Non-lethal methods for conducting the research are not feasible; 
and
    (ii) For depleted, endangered, or threatened species, the results 
will directly benefit that species or stock, or will fulfill a 
critically important research need.
    (3) Any permanent removal of a marine mammal from the wild is 
consistent with any applicable quota established by the Office Director.
    (4) The proposed research will not likely have significant adverse 
effects on any other component of the marine ecosystem of which the 
affected species or stock is a part.
    (5) For species or stocks designated or proposed to be designated as 
depleted, or listed or proposed to be listed as endangered or 
threatened:
    (i) The proposed research cannot be accomplished using a species or 
stock that is not designated or proposed to be designated as depleted, 
or listed or proposed to be listed as threatened or endangered;
    (ii) The proposed research, by itself or in combination with other 
activities will not likely have a long-term direct or indirect adverse 
impact on the species or stock;
    (iii) The proposed research will either:
    (A) Contribute to fulfilling a research need or objective identified 
in a species recovery or conservation plan, or if there is no 
conservation or recovery plan in place, a research need or objective 
identified by the Office Director in stock assessments established under 
section 117 of the MMPA;
    (B) Contribute significantly to understanding the basic biology or 
ecology of the species or stock, or to identifying, evaluating, or 
resolving conservation problems for the species or stock; or
    (C) Contribute significantly to fulfilling a critically important 
research need.
    (6) For proposed enhancement activities:
    (i) Only living marine mammals and marine mammal parts necessary for 
enhancement of the survival, recovery, or propagation of the affected 
species or stock may be taken, imported, exported, or otherwise affected 
under the authority of an enhancement permit. Marine mammal parts would 
include in this regard clinical specimens or other biological samples 
required for the conduct of breeding programs or the diagnosis or 
treatment of disease.
    (ii) The activity will likely contribute significantly to 
maintaining or increasing distribution or abundance, enhancing the 
health or welfare of the

[[Page 46]]

species or stock, or ensuring the survival or recovery of the affected 
species or stock in the wild.
    (iii) The activity is consistent with:
    (A) An approved conservation plan developed under section 115(b) of 
the MMPA or recovery plan developed under section 4(f) of the ESA for 
the species or stock; or
    (B) If there is no conservation or recovery plan, with the Office 
Director's evaluation of the actions required to enhance the survival or 
recovery of the species or stock in light of the factors that would be 
addressed in a conservation or recovery plan.
    (iv) An enhancement permit may authorize the captive maintenance of 
a marine mammal from a threatened, endangered, or depleted species or 
stock only if the Office Director determines that:
    (A) The proposed captive maintenance will likely contribute directly 
to the survival or recovery of the species or stock by maintaining a 
viable gene pool, increasing productivity, providing necessary 
biological information, or establishing animal reserves required to 
support directly these objectives; and
    (B) The expected benefit to the species or stock outweighs the 
expected benefits of alternatives that do not require removal of marine 
mammals from the wild.
    (v) The Office Director may authorize the public display of marine 
mammals held under the authority of an enhancement permit only if:
    (A) The public display is incidental to the authorized captive 
maintenance;
    (B) The public display will not interfere with the attainment of the 
survival or recovery objectives;
    (C) The marine mammals will be held consistent with all requirements 
and standards that are applicable to marine mammals held under the 
authority of the Acts and the Animal Welfare Act, unless the Office 
Director determines that an exception is necessary to implement an 
essential enhancement activity; and
    (D) The marine mammals will be excluded from any interactive program 
and will not be trained for performance.
    (vi) The Office Director may authorize non-intrusive scientific 
research to be conducted while a marine mammal is held under the 
authority of an enhancement permit, only if such scientific research:
    (A) Is incidental to the permitted enhancement activities; and
    (B) Will not interfere with the attainment of the survival or 
recovery objectives.
    (c) Restrictions. (1) The following restrictions apply to all 
scientific research permits issued under this subpart:
    (i) Research activities must be conducted in the manner authorized 
in the permit.
    (ii) Research results shall be published or otherwise made available 
to the scientific community in a reasonable period of time.
    (iii) Research activities must be conducted under the direct 
supervision of the principal investigator or a co-investigator 
identified in the permit.
    (iv) Personnel involved in research activities shall be reasonable 
in number and limited to:
    (A) Individuals who perform a function directly supportive of and 
necessary to the permitted research activity; and
    (B) Support personnel included for the purpose of training or as 
backup personnel for persons described in paragraph (c)(1)(iv)(A).
    (v) Any marine mammal part imported under the authority of a 
scientific research permit must not have been obtained as the result of 
a lethal taking that would be inconsistent with the Acts, unless 
authorized by the Office Director.
    (vi) Marine mammals held under a permit for scientific research 
shall not be placed on public display, included in an interactive 
program or activity, or trained for performance unless such activities:
    (A) Are necessary to address scientific research objectives and have 
been specifically authorized by the Office Director under the scientific 
research permit; and
    (B) Are conducted incidental to and do not in any way interfere with 
the permitted scientific research; and

[[Page 47]]

    (C) Are conducted in a manner consistent with provisions applicable 
to public display, unless exceptions are specifically authorized by the 
Office Director.
    (vii) Any activity conducted incidental to the authorized scientific 
research activity must not involve any taking of marine mammals beyond 
what is necessary to conduct the research (i.e., educational and 
commercial photography).
    (2) Any marine mammal or progeny held in captive maintenance under 
an enhancement permit shall be returned to its natural habitat as soon 
as feasible, consistent with the terms of the enhancement permit and the 
objectives of an approved conservation or recovery plan. In accordance 
with section 10(j) of the ESA, the Office Director may authorize the 
release of any population of an endangered or threatened species outside 
the current range of such species if the Office Director determines that 
such release will further the conservation of such species.

[61 FR 21938, May 10, 1996]