[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 43 (Thursday, March 5, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10947-10948]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-5611]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Permit Applications Received Under the Antarctic Conservation Act 
of 1978 (P.L. 95-541)

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of permit applications received under the Antarctic 
Conservation Act of 1978, Pub. L. 95-541.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish 
notice of permit applications received to conduct activities regulated 
under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. NSF has published 
regulations under the Antarctic Conservation Act at Title 45 Part 670 
of the Code of Federal Regulations. This is the required notice of 
permit applications received.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit written data, comments, 
or views with respect to these permit applications by April 1, 1998. 
Permit applications may be inspected by interested parties at the 
Permit Office, address below.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Permit Office, Room 755, 
Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson 
Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nadene G. Kennedy at the above address 
or (703) 306-1033.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Science Foundation, as directed 
by the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541), has 
developed regulations that implement the ``Agreed Measures for the 
Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora'' for all United States 
citizens. The Agreed Measures, developed by the Antarctic Treaty 
Consultative Parties, recommended establishment of a permit system for 
various activities in Antarctica and designation of certain animals and 
certain geographic areas as requiring special protection. The 
regulations establish such a permit system to designate Specially 
Protected Areas and Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
    The application received as follows:

Permit Application: 99-001

    1. Applicant: Gerald L. Kooyman, Center for Marine Biotechnology 
and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of 
California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0204.
    Activity for Which Permit is Requested: Taking, and Import into the 
U.S.

[[Page 10948]]

    The applicant proposes to capture and restrain 6 adult Emperor 
penguins for 30 minutes while a 260 gram satellite transmitter is glued 
to the feathers. The transmitters expected to remain attached for three 
months before shedding. Twenty Emperor penguins will be captured and 
held for twenty minutes. During captivity stomach samples will be 
obtained by stomach lavage. These procedures are the only means of 
determining diet preferences, diving behavior and distribution patterns 
of individual birds in the Ross Sea. None of this information is known 
about Emperor penguins occurring in the Ross Sea during the winter.
    Location: Ross Sea pack ice. Access is via the R/V Nathaniel B. 
Palmer.
    Dates: May 1, 1998 to August 1, 1998.

Permit Application: 99-002

    2. Applicant: William R. Fraser, Department of Biology, Montana 
State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717.
    Activity for Which Permit is Requested: Taking, and Import Into the 
U.S.
    The applicant, as a participant in the Long-Term Ecological 
Research Program (LTER), is seeking to understand the factors that 
control the abundance and distribution of seabirds within and between 
seasons in the LTER study region. Part of this research encompasses 
understanding seasonal variability in the diets of the region's most 
common seabirds, of which the early winter period still remains of the 
least known and one of the most important from an ecological 
perspective. Research on seabirds in general suggests that winter 
feeding conditions may determine the survival of annual cohorts and 
breeding adults, and adult breeding condition in spring, in effect, 
some of the key variables that influence long-term demography.
    The applicant proposes to capture up to 100 Adelie penguins, 100 
Chinstrap penguins and 50 Emperor penguins in order to weigh, measure 
and obtain stomach contents through stomach lavage. The applicant also 
proposes to kill up to 75 Snow Petrels, 50 Southern Fulmars and 75 
Antarctic Petrels in order to obtain measurements, weights and study 
stomach contents. These seabids will then be imported into the U.S. for 
subsequent distribution to museums and teaching collections at various 
institutions, thus ensuring the full use of these specimens.
    Location: Bellingshausen Sea, vicinity of Marguerite Bay. Access is 
via the R/V Lawrence M. Gould.
    Dates: May 1, 1998 to September 1, 1998.
Nadene G. Kennedy,
Permit Officer, Office of Polar Programs.
[FR Doc. 98-5611 Filed 3-4-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-M