[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 76 (Thursday, April 18, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 16899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9514]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 040996B]


Marine Mammals

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

ACTION: Modification no. 4 to scientific research permit no. 873 
(P772#63).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a request for modification of 
scientific research permit no. 873 submitted by the Southwest Fisheries 
Science Center, NMFS, P.O. Box 271, La Jolla, CA 92038-0271, has been 
granted.

ADDRESSES: The modification 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, Suite 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-2289); and
    Director, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 
4200, Long Beach, CA 90802, (310/980-4016).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 1, 1996, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (61 FR 8043) that a modification of permit no. 
873, issued July 28, 1993 (58 FR 34038), had been requested by the 
above-named organization. The requested modification has been granted 
under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the provisions of paragraphs (d) and 
(e) of Sec. 216.33 of the Regulations Governing the Taking and 
Importing of Marine Mammals (50 CFR part 216), the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 (ESA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the 
provisions of Sec. 222.25 of the Regulations Governing the Taking, 
Importing, and Exporting of Endangered Fish and Wildlife (50 CFR part 
222).
    Permit no. 873 authorized the permit holder to biopsy several 
species of cetaceans off the Pacific, Southern, and Indian Oceans, and 
to import biopsy tissues collected outside of U.S. waters. The permit 
has been modified to authorize an increase in the number of humpback 
whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to be biopsy sampled from 20 to 100 for 
1996, including 15 cow/calf pairs (i.e., 30 animals), in Hawaiian 
waters during the 1996 field season.
    Issuance of this modification, as required by the ESA, was based on 
a finding that such modification: (1) Was applied for in good faith; 
(2) will not operate to the disadvantage of the endangered species 
which are the subject of this permit; and (3) is consistent with the 
purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA.

    Dated: April 9, 1996.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-9514 Filed 4-17-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F