[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 31 (Friday, February 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 6950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-3707]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 020797D]


Marine Mammals; Permit No. 873 (P773#63)

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

ACTION: Scientific research permit amendment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a request for amendment 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 amendment 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
    Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean 
Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802, (310/980-4016).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 9, 1996, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (61 FR 64857) that an amendment of permit no. 873, 
issued July 28, 1993 (58 FR 34038), had been requested by the above-
named organization. The requested amendment 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 Sec. 216.39 of the Regulations 
Governing the Taking and Importing of Marine Mammals (50 CFR part 216), 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 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 222.23).
    Permit no. 873 authorized the permit holder to biopsy several 
species of cetaceans off the Pacific, Southern, and Indian Oceans, as 
well as U.S. territorial waters of the Pacific and Southern Oceans and 
the Gulf of Mexico; and to import biopsy tissues collected outside of 
U.S. waters. The permit has been amended to authorize the attachment of 
radio tags to up to 20 sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) per year 
in the eastern north Pacific Ocean.
    Issuance of this amendment, as required by the ESA, was based on a 
finding that such amendment: (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: February 10, 1997.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-3707 Filed 2-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F