[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 16003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7963]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 032703H]


Endangered Species; File No. 1190

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

ACTION: Receipt of application for modification.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS Southwest Region, 501 West 
Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802-4213, has requested a modification to 
scientific research Permit No. 1190.

DATES: Written or telefaxed comments must be received on or before May 
2, 2003.

ADDRESSES: The modification request 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;
    Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long 
Beach, CA 90802-4213; phone (562)980-4001; fax (562)980-4018; and
    Protected Species Coordinator, Pacific Area Office, NMFS, 1601 
Kapiolani Blvd., Rm. 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814-4700; phone (808)973-
2935; fax (808)973-2941;
    Written comments or requests for a public hearing on this request 
should be submitted to the Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 
Division, F/PR1, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West 
Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Those individuals 
requesting a hearing should set forth the specific reasons why a 
hearing on this particular modification 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: Carrie Hubard or Ruth Johnson, (301) 
713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject modification to Permit No. 1190, 
issued on March 8, 1999, (64 FR 14432) and subsequently modified on 
September 21, 2000, (65 FR 58514) and February 20, 2001, (66 FR 14134), 
is requested under the authority of 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 222-226).
    Permit No. 1190 authorizes the permit holder to document and 
evaluate the incidental take of sea turtles by the Hawaiian pelagic 
longline fishery. Trained observers placed on fishery vessels are 
authorized to examine, measure, weigh, biopsy sample, and tag up to 40 
green (Chelonia mydas), 100 leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), 600 
loggerhead (Caretta caretta), 40 hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), 
and 100 olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles annually. Of 
the sampled turtles, 50 hard-shelled turtles may have a transmitter 
attached. The incidental capture of the sea turtles by the fishery is 
covered by an incidental take statement in a biological opinion on the 
fishery, not by the scientific research permit. Permit No. 1190 expires 
on March 31, 2004. The permit holder requests authorization to expand 
observer programs in order to monitor all pelagic longline fisheries 
governed by Fisheries Management Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the 
Western Pacific. The modification would allow observers to sample sea 
turtles in the manner described above from fisheries beyond that in 
Hawaiian waters, such as those in American Samoa, the Territory of 
Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. The permit 
holder also requests authority to import sea turtle samples as 
necessary. There is no change in the number of sea turtles that will be 
sampled annually or the type of sampling, only the geographic region.

    Dated: March 27, 2003.
Stephen L. Leathery,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-7963 Filed 4-1-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S