[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3165-3166]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-1662]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 011602A]


Endangered Species; Permits

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

ACTION: Receipt of an application for a research permit (1360).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the following actions regarding 
permits for takes of endangered and threatened species for the purposes 
of scientific research and/or enhancement under the Endangered Species 
Act (ESA): NMFS has received an application for a scientific research 
permit from Dr. David Secor, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL).

DATES: Comments or requests for a public hearing on any of the new 
applications or modification requests must be received at the 
appropriate address or fax number no later than 5 p.m. eastern standard 
time on February 22, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this request should be sent to the 
appropriate office as indicated below. Comments may also be sent via 
fax to the number indicated for the application. Comments will not be 
accepted if submitted via e-mail or the Internet. The application and 
related documents are available for review in the indicated office, by 
appointment:
    Permits, Conservation and Education Division, F/PR1, 1315 East West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (phone: 301-713-1401, fax: 301-713-
0376).
    Documents may also be reviewed by appointment in the Office of 
Protected Resources, F/PR1, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13730, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (phone:301-713-1401).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lillian Becker, Silver Spring, MD 
(phone: 301-713-2319, fax: 301-713-0376, e-mail: 
[email protected])

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority

    Issuance of permits and permit modifications, as required by the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) (ESA), is based on 
a finding that such permits/modifications: (1) are applied for in good 
faith; (2) would not operate to the disadvantage of the listed species 
which are the subject of the permits; and (3) are consistent with the 
purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA. Scientific 
research and/or enhancement permits are issued under section 10 
(a)(1)(A) of the ESA.

[[Page 3166]]

 Authority to take listed species is subject to conditions set forth in 
the permits. Permits and modifications are issued in accordance with 
and are subject to the ESA and NMFS regulations governing listed fish 
and wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 222-226).
    Those individuals requesting a hearing on an application listed in 
this notice should set out the specific reasons why a hearing on that 
application would be appropriate (see ADDRESSES). The holding of such 
hearing is at the discretion of the Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries, NOAA. All statements and opinions contained in the permit 
action summary are those of the applicant and do not necessarily 
reflect the views of NMFS.

Species Covered in This Notice

    The following species are covered in this notice:

Fish

    Endangered Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum)

Application 1360

    The applicant hypothesizes that the recovery of shortnose sturgeon 
on the Hudson River occurred due to one or several strong year-classes 
following nursery system recovery to normoxia after 1977. The applicant 
proposes to test this hypothesis by determining the ages of shortnose 
sturgeon caught in the Hudson river by interpreting annulus of pectoral 
fin spines. The method will be tested on 10 captive shortnose sturgeon 
from seven age classes (70 total) from US Fish and Wildlife Service 
Warm Springs Fish Hatchery, Georgia. The applicant will clip a 1cm 
section from the primary spine of one pectoral fin near the point of 
articulation. After this has been tested in hatchery fish, the 
applicant proposes to capture shortnose sturgeon in the Hudson River 
with gillnets, handle, measure, check for tags, tag, passive integrated 
transponder tag, sex (by external or fiberoptic examination), and 
release. The applicant proposes to take 190 shortnose sturgeon in 2002 
and 480 in 2003.

    Dated: January 17, 2002.
Ann Terbush,
Chief, Permits, Conservation, and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-1662 Filed 1-22-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S