[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 66 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 17451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5025]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 031406G]


Endangered Species; File No. 1527

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that John A. Musick, Ph.D., Virginia 
Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Gloucester Point, VA 23062, has 
been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta caretta), Kemp's 
ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green 
(Chelonia mydas), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles 
for purposes of scientific research.

ADDRESSES: The permit and related documents are available for review 
upon written request or by appointment in the following office(s):
    Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 
(301)713-2289; fax (301)427-2521; and
    Northeast Regional Office, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, 
MA 01930-2298; phone (978)281-9328; fax (978)281-9394.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Opay or Kate Swails, (301)713-
2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 24, 2005, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (70 FR 49577) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, green, leatherback, 
and hawksbill sea turtles had been submitted by the applicant. The 
requested permit has been issued under the authority of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the 
regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting of 
endangered and threatened species (50 CFR parts 222-226).
    The research will take place in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, 
and the local Virginia and Maryland tributaries to the Bay. Researchers 
will capture up to 100 loggerhead, 30 Kemp's ridley, 10 leatherback, 10 
green, and 5 hawksbill sea turtles each year over the course of the 
permit. The turtles will be captured by relocation trawlers as part of 
dredging activities authorized under separate permits, or incidentally 
captured in pound net fisheries and then turned over to the applicant. 
Turtles will be measured, weighed, blood sampled, flipper tagged, and 
PIT tagged. A subset of these animals will have satellite and/or radio/
sonic transmitters attached to their carapace. Twenty loggerhead sea 
turtles will be used in a whelk gear bycatch reduction study. The 
research will identify sea turtle's relative abundance over time; 
detect changes in size and age composition; monitor and document 
movement and migration patterns; and study sea turtle interactions with 
whelk pot gear. The permit is issued for 5 years.Issuance of this 
permit, as required by the ESA, was based on a finding that such permit 
(1) was applied for in good faith, (2) will not operate to the 
disadvantage of any endangered or threatened species, and (3) is 
consistent with the purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the 
ESA.

    Dated: March 31, 2006.
Stephen L. Leathery,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-5025 Filed 4-5-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S