[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 211 (Tuesday, October 31, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64932-64933]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-27873]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 101900B]


Marine Mammals; File No. 633-1483-03

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 Dr. Charles A. Mayo, Center for 
Coastal Studies, 59 Commercial Street P.O. Box 1036, Provincetown, 
Massachusetts 02657, has requested an amendment to scientific research 
Permit No. 633-1483.

DATES: Written or telefaxed comments must be received on or before 
November 30, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The amendment request and related documents are available 
for review upon written request or by appointment in the following 
office(s):
    Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/
713-2289); and
    Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-
2298; phone (508)281-9250; fax (508)281-9371.
    Written comments or requests for a public hearing on this request 
should be submitted to the Chief, Permits and Documentation 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 amendment request would be appropriate.
    Comments may also be submitted by facsimile at (301) 713-0376, 
provided the facsimile is confirmed by hard copy submitted by mail and 
postmarked no later than the closing date of the comment period. Please 
note that comments will not be accepted by e-mail or other electronic 
media.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Simona Roberts or Ruth Johnson, 301/
713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject amendment to Permit No. 633-
1483, issued on March 3, 1999 (64 FR 10276), 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 and 
threatened species (50 CFR 222-227).
    Permit No. 633-1483 authorizes the permit holder to (Project I): 
(1) conduct behavioral observations of, and photo-identify northern 
right whales during aerial and vessel surveys; (2) place VHF tags on 
right whales during the course of vessel surveys; (3) collect skin and 
blubber biopsy samples and sloughed skin; and (4) export skin samples 
for genetic analysis. And, under Project II (humpback whales), to: (1) 
develop a genealogy of the Gulf of Maine humpback whale population; (2) 
determine paternity and evaluate male reproductive success; (3) 
evaluate the influence of relatedness on feeding distribution, behavior 
and social organization; (4) determine individual movement and habitat 
preferences; (5) evaluate rates and severity of entanglement; (6) 
monitor trends in abundance, reproductive rates,

[[Page 64933]]

recruitment, and mortality; and (7) opportunistically photo-identify 
and biopsy sample various Balaenopterid species.
    With this application for amendment, the permit holder requests 
authorization (Project III) to attach a non-invasive optical device 
(``critter cam'') to seven North Atlantic right whales in Cape Cod Bay 
for collecting video documentation in order to better assess prey 
selectivity and movements of the whales during foraging and the quality 
of the food layer supporting the whales. This documentation will 
provide a subsurface tool for supplementing CCS' on-going oceanographic 
surveys and for ``ground-truthing'' current estimates of prey patch 
density and area in Cape Cod Bay.
    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial determination has been made that 
the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to 
prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
    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.

    Dated: October 25, 2000.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-27873 Filed 10-30-00; 8:45 am]
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