[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 123 (Thursday, June 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38011-38012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-16217]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 032503B]


Endangered Species; File No.1429

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 Southeast Fisheries Science Center 
(SEFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, 
Miami, FL 33149, has been issued a permit to take loggerhead (Caretta 
caretta), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), green (Chelonia mydas), 
Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), hawksbill (Eretmochelys 
imbricata), and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) 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 offices:
    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;
    Southeast Region, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive North, St. 
Petersburg, FL 33702-2432; phone (727)570-5301; fax (727)570-5320; and
    Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-
2298; phone (978)281-9328; fax (978)281-9371.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Opay (301) 713-1401, or Carrie 
Hubard (301) 713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 1, 2003, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (68 FR 15707) that a request for a scientific 
research permit

[[Page 38012]]

to take loggerhead, leatherback, green, hawksbill, olive ridley, and 
Kemp's ridley sea turtles had been submitted by the above-named 
organization. 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 permit will allow the SEFSC to conduct sea turtle bycatch 
reduction research in the pelagic longline fishery of the western north 
Atlantic Ocean. The purpose of the research is to develop and test 
methods to reduce bycatch that occurs incidental to commercial, pelagic 
longline fishing. The goal is to develop a means to reduce turtle take 
and retain viable fishing performance that may be adopted by the U.S. 
pelagic longline fleet as an alternative to more restrictive sea turtle 
protection measures, such as closures. The technologies developed 
through this research are expected to be transferrable to other 
nations' fleets as well, so this work will address the larger problem 
of sea turtle bycatch by pelagic longlines throughout the entire 
Atlantic Ocean and in other regions where sea turtle bycatch is a 
concern. The research will also attempt to determine the feasibility of 
using pop-up satellite tags to study the post-hooking survival of 
turtles impacted by the fishery. The permit expires on December 31, 
2003.
    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: June 20, 2003.
Stephen L. Leathery,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-16217 Filed 6-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S