[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63078-63079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-25715]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 082802F]


Endangered Species; File No. 1360

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. David Secor, Chesapeake 
Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental 
Science, P.O. Box 38, Solomons, Maryland 20619 has been issued a permit 
to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) 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 13705, Silver Spring, MD 
20910; phone (301)713-2289; fax (301)713-0376;
    Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-
2298; phone (978)281-9200; fax (978)281-9371;Southeast Region, NMFS, 
9721 Executive Center Drive North, St. Petersburg, FL 33702-2432; phone 
(727)570-5301; fax (727)570-5320.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 23, 2002, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (67 FR 3165) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take shortnose sturgeon 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

[[Page 63079]]

endangered and threatened species (50 CFR parts 222-226).
    The permit holder 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 permit holder is going 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 permit holder will 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 is authorized to take 670 shortnose sturgeon.
    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: October 3, 2002.
Trevor Spradlin,
 Acting Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-25715 Filed 10-9-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S