[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 77 (Friday, April 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 19888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-9875]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 040495E]


Marine Mammals

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

ACTION: Receipt of application for a scientific research permit (P66J).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Alaska Department of Fish and 
Game has applied in due form for a permit to take Steller and 
California sea lions for the purposes of scientific research.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before May 22, 1995.

ADDRESSES: The application and related documents are available for 
review upon written request or by appointment in the following offices:
    Permits Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-2289);
    Director, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK, 99802-
1668 (907/586-7221).
    Written data or views, or requests for a public hearing on this 
request, should be submitted to the Chief, Permits Division, F/PR1, 
Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910, within 30 days of the publication of this notice. 
Those individuals requesting a hearing should set forth the specific 
reasons why a hearing on this particular request would be appropriate.
    Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register, the Secretary of Commerce is forwarding copies of this 
application to the Marine Mammal Commission and its Committee of 
Scientific Advisors.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject permit 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 Fish and 
Wildlife (50 CFR part 222).
    The applicant seeks authorization to take a maximum of 125 Steller 
sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) by trapping, darting, sampling, and gas 
anesthesia (including a maximum of 20 by recapture for follow-up blood 
sampling and removal of instruments); a maximum of 400 Steller pups 
over 6 months old by hand capture, gas anesthesia, and marking; a 
maximum of 10,000 Stellers by harassment during the course of capturing 
suitable animals; a maximum of 15 Stellers by unintentional mortality 
during the course of capture and chemical immobilization and salvaged 
specimens of stranded animals, premature pups, and mortalities 
associated with this and other research activities. The applicant also 
seeks authorization to take up to 30 rehabilitated California sea lions 
(Zalophus californianus) by injection with experimental immobilization 
drugs and a maximum of 3 for unintentional mortality. All takes will be 
over a 5-year period. The applicant proposes to initiate this work on 
June 15, 1995. The objectives of this research are to test and develop 
safe protocol for chemical restraint, determine movements, habitat 
usage and commercial fishery interactions, compare condition indices 
between eastern and western stocks, determine dispersal area and extent 
of mixing of eastern and western stock pups, and develop safe winter 
capturing methods of sea lions.

    Dated: April 17, 1995.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits & Documentation Division, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 95-9875 Filed 4-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F