[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61073-61074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24517]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 090502A ]


Endangered Species; File No. 1389

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

ACTION: Issuance of permit.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Dr. Stephen J. Morreale, 
Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 
has been issued a permit to take loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, green and 
leatherback sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

ADDRESSES: The permit and related documents are available for review 
upon written request or by appointment in the following office(s):
    Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room

[[Page 61074]]

13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone (301)713-2289; fax (301)713-0376; 
and
    Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected Resources, Northeast 
Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298; phone 
(978)281-9388; fax (978)281-9371.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lillian Becker or Ruth Johnson, 
(301)713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 12, 2002, notice was published in 
the Federal Register(67 FR 46178) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, green and 
leatherback sea turtles had been submitted by the above-named 
individual. The requested permit has been issued under the authority of 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.) and the regulations governing the taking, importing, and 
exporting of endangered and threatened species (50 CFR parts 222-226).
    The purpose of the research, as stated in the application, is to 
re-institute a long-term mark- recapture study in order to monitor the 
population levels and health status of sea turtles inhabiting the Long 
Island Sound and Peconic Bay Estuaries. Because these protected coastal 
waters are extremely important foraging areas for juvenile sea turtles, 
the establishment of a new research program will provide an ideal 
opportunity to gauge the trends and status of populations of sea 
turtles, and also to assess the health of the turtles and their 
critical ecosystems. This will be done by capturing sea turtles in 
pound nets then measuring, weighing, tagging, sampling blood and skin, 
and releasing them.
    Issuance of this permit, as required by the ESA, was based on a 
finding that such permit (1) was applied for in good faith, (2) will 
not operate to the disadvantage of the endangered species which is the 
subject of this permit, and (3) is consistent with the purposes and 
policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA.

    Dated: September 20, 2002.
Eugene T. Nitta,
Acting Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-24517 Filed 9-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S