[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 237 (Monday, December 9, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64857-64858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-31156]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 112596B]


Marine Mammals; Scientific Research Permit (P772#63)

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

ACTION: Receipt of application for amendment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Southwest Fisheries Science 
Center, NMFS, P.O. Box 271, La Jolla, CA 92038-0271, has requested an 
amendment to Permit No. 873.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before January 8, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The amendment request and related documents are available 
for review upon written request or by appointment in the following 
office(s):
    Permits Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-2289); and
    Director, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 
4200,

[[Page 64858]]

Long Beach, CA 90802-4213 (310/980-4001).
    Written data or views, or requests for a public hearing on this 
request, should be submitted to the Director, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 
20910. 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, NMFS is forwarding copies of this application to the Marine 
Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject amendment to permit no. 873, 
issued on July 28, 1993 (58 FR 34038), 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).
    Permit no. 873 authorizes the permit holder to harass (i.e., 
through vessel approach, photogrammetry, photographic identification, 
and tissue biopsy) several marine mammal species in the Pacific, 
Southern, and Indian Oceans, over a 5-year period. The expiration date 
of the permit is December 31, 1997. The permit holder is now requesting 
that Permit 873 be amended to authorize the attachment of radio tags to 
up to 20 sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) per year in the eastern 
North Pacific Ocean.

    Dated: November 27, 1996.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-31156 Filed 12-06-96; 8:45 am]
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