[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14484-14485]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05577]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XS35
Marine Mammals; File No. 14450
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for permit amendment.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the National Marine Fisheries
Service's Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), 75 Virginia Beach
Drive, Miami, FL 33149 [Principal Investigator: Dr. Keith Mullin], has
applied for an amendment to Scientific Research Permit No. 14450.
DATES: Written, telefaxed, or email comments must be received on or
before April 14, 2014.
ADDRESSES: The application and related documents are available for
review by selecting ``Records Open for Public Comment'' from the
Features box on the Applications and Permits for Protected Species home
page, https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then selecting
[[Page 14485]]
File No. 14450-01 from the list of available applications.
These documents are also available 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;
Northeast Region, NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA
01930; phone (978) 281-9328; fax (978) 281-9394; and
Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL
33701; phone (727) 824-5312; fax (727) 824-5309.
Written comments on this application should be submitted to the
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, at the address listed above.
Comments may also be submitted by facsimile to (301) 713-0376, or by
email to [email protected]. Please include the File No. in the
subject line of the email comment.
Those individuals requesting a public hearing should submit a
written request to the Chief, Permits and Conservation Division at the
address listed above. The request should set forth the specific reasons
why a hearing on this application would be appropriate.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristy Beard, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject amendment to Permit No. 14450 is
requested under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of
1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the regulations governing
the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216), the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (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).
Permit No. 14450, issued on March 4, 2014 (79 FR 13042), authorizes
the permit holder to take all cetacean species that occur in U.S. and
international waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and
Caribbean Sea by harassment during aerial and vessel-based line-
transect sampling, acoustic sampling, behavioral observations, and
vessel-based photo-identification and biopsy sampling. Tissue samples
collected in other countries may be imported into the U.S. The permit
is valid for five years from the date of issuance.
The permit holder is requesting the permit be amended to include
authorization for takes by harassment during satellite tagging to
support NMFS stock assessment research on ESA-listed large whales that
occur in U.S. and international waters of the western North Atlantic.
Up to four attempts would be made to attach a tag to an animal.
Directed satellite tagging efforts would be conducted to tag 20 sperm
whales and 5 North Atlantic right whales. Opportunistic tagging would
occur of 10 fin, 5 blue, 5 sei, and 10 humpback whales when encountered
during other SEFSC assessment surveys. Only adults would be tagged. The
expiration date of the permit would not change.
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial determination has been made that
the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to
prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal
Register, NMFS is forwarding copies of this application to the Marine
Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.
Dated: March 10, 2014.
Donna S. Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-05577 Filed 3-13-14; 8:45 am]
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