[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 179 (Tuesday, September 16, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 48611]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-24520]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 090597D]


Marine Mammals

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 the Whale Conservation Institute, 
191 Weston Road, Lincoln, Massachusetts 01773, has requested an 
amendment to Permit No. 1004.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 16, 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
    Regional Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930 (508/281-9250).
    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, 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 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 222.23).
    Permit No. 1004 authorizes the importation of biopsy tissue samples 
taken from several species of cetaceans in South America, through June 
30, 1998. The Holder is now requesting that: 1) the expiration date of 
the permit be extended from June 30, 1998 to November 30, 1998; 2) the 
number of imported southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) tissue 
samples taken at Peninsula Valdez, Argentina be increased from 20 to 
340; and 3) these ``tissues samples'' taken from southern right whales 
include baleen, blood and bone, skin/blubber and organ tissues (from 
dead/stranded whales), and sloughed skin (from live free-ranging 
whales). Amendment of the permit to allow for this adjustment is 
considered administrative in nature and is therefore planned to take 
place upon close of the public comment period.

    Dated: September 8, 1997.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-24520 Filed 9-15-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F