[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 50 (Thursday, March 14, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 16255]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05896]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC059


Endangered Species; File No. 17022

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

ACTION: Issuance of permit.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries 
Science Center (PIFSC; Samuel Pooley, Ph.D., Responsible Party), has 
been issued a permit to take 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 offices:
    Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; 
phone (301) 427-8401; fax (301) 713-0376; and
    Pacific Islands Region, NMFS, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Rm 1110, 
Honolulu, HI 96814-4700; phone (808) 944-2200; fax (808) 973-2941;

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Hapeman or Rosa L. 
Gonz[aacute]lez, (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 25, 2012, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (77 FR 37877) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take green and hawksbill sea turtles had been 
submitted by the above-named organization. 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 PIFSC is authorized to begin long-term monitoring of green and 
hawksbill sea turtles in the remote U.S. Islands and Territories 
excluding Hawaii in the Central Pacific to estimate sea turtle 
abundance, size ranges, health status, habitat use, foraging ecology, 
local movements, and migration routes. Researchers may capture, 
examine, measure, flipper and passive integrated transponder tag, 
weigh, skin and blood sample, and/or attach transmitters on sea turtles 
before release. Researchers also may collect the carcasses, tissues and 
parts of dead sea turtles encountered during surveys. The permit is 
valid for five 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 such endangered or threatened 
species, and (3) is consistent with the purposes and policies set forth 
in section 2 of the ESA.

    Dated: March 11, 2013.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-05896 Filed 3-13-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P