[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18352-18353]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7904]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 033104B]


Marine Mammals; File Nos. 87-1743, 1066-1750

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

ACTION:  Receipt of applications for permits.

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SUMMARY:  Notice is hereby given that the following applicants have 
applied in due form for a permit to take marine mammals: Daniel Costa, 
Department of Biology and Institute of Marine Sciences, University of 
California, Santa Cruz, California 95064 (File No. 87-1743); and 
Michael Williams, LGL, Alaska Research Associates, Inc., 1101 East 
76\th\ Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99518 (File No. 1066-1750).

DATES:  Written, telefaxed, or e-mail comments must be received on or 
before May 7, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The applications and related documents are available for 
review upon written request or by appointment in the following 
office(s):
    All documents: 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;
    File No. 87-1743: Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., 
Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213; phone (562)980-4001; fax 
(562)980-4018; and
    File No. 1066-1750: Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 
99802-1668; phone (907)586-7221; fax (907)586-7249.
    Written comments or requests for a public hearing on this 
application should be mailed 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 request would be appropriate.
    Comments would also be submitted by facsimile to (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.
    Comments would also be submitted by e-mail. The mailbox address for 
providing email comments is [email protected]. Include in the 
subject line of the e-mail comment the applicable document identifier: 
File No. 87-1743 or File No. 1066-1750.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Sloan or Ruth Johnson, 301/713-
2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject permits are requested under the 
authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended 
(MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the Regulations Governing the Taking 
and Importing of Marine Mammals (50 CFR part 216), and the Fur Seal Act 
of 1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.).

Applications for permit

    File No. 87-1743: The applicant, Daniel Costa, proposes to continue 
long-term behavioral, physiological, and life history research studies 
on northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) throughout their 
range. The proposed annual activities are described below.
    Tagging and marking studies: Up to 1600 juvenile and 1250 adult 
seals of either sex would be captured, tagged, and marked, with up to 
14, 250 animals incidentally harassed during these procedures.
    Weigh, Measure, and Sample: Two hundred juveniles and 50 adults of 
either sex would be captured, sedated as necessary, weighed, measured 
(length/girth/ultrasound), and sampled (20 ml blood, flipper skin, 
blubber and muscle biopsy); 100 of the juveniles and all adults would 
be captured twice; up to 13,750 animals would be incidentally harassed 
during these activities.
    Apply Satellite Tracking tags, Time-Depth Speed, Oceanography 
Recorders: Up to 50 juveniles and 100 adults of either sex would be 
captured, chemically restrained, weighed and measured (length/girth/
ultrasound), injected with Evans Blue dye for blood volume estimates, 
blood and biopsy sampled, tagged with a dive-depth-swim speed-
oceanography instrument package and/or a satellite tracking transmitter 
and released, and up to 20 individuals would have stomach temperature 
telemeters placed using a gastric tube; seals would be re-captured, 
weighed, stomach lavaged, have instruments removed, and be released; up 
to 1200 seals would be incidentally harassed during these activities.
    Translocation Studies of Diving: Up to 80 juveniles would be 
captured, sedated, handled as above, transported to Long Marine 
Laboratory (LML) or Sonoma State University and held overnight, 
transported to a different site and released at sea up to 200 km from 
Ano Nuevo; instruments would be attached as above; seals that return to 
the original capture site would be recaptured, sedated, have diving 
instruments removed and be weighed, measured, blood sampled and re-
released. Of these: 60 would have a radio-transmitter, time-depth 
recorder, and satellite tracking transmitter attached; individuals 
would also have either a CTD (conductivity temperature and depth) tag 
or an acoustic data logger attached in addition to or instead of the 
time depth recorder; 10 would be injected with doubly-labeled water 
(oxygen 18 and tritiated water); 10 would be outfitted with a small 
video or digital camera, a radio transmitter and/or a satellite tag 
glued to the pelage; up to 800 seals would be incidentally harassed 
during capture operations.
    Fasting Energetics and Metabolic Regulation Study: Up to 90 
juveniles and 40 adults of either sex would be captured, handled 
(weighed and measured), catheterized in the extradural vein, blood 
sampled, and have one of the following administered: (a) glucose (0.5 
g/kg as a 25 g/dl solution); (b) insulin (0.1-0.15 units/kg); (c) 
glucagon (0.03 mg/kg, not to exceed a total of 1 mg); or (d) a standard 
clinical tracer. Animals would be recaptured, blood sampled and weighed 
up to four times for each project. Up to 2,600 seals would be 
incidentally harassed during these activities.
    Fasting Metabolic Study: Up to 40 juvenile seals would be captured, 
chemically restrained, transported and temporarily held at LML for up 
to 30 days, sedated, catheterized, blood sampled, ECG measured and 
released. Up to 400 seals would be incidentally harassed during capture 
operations.
    Reproductive Energetics: Up to 60 animals (30 mother/pup pairs) 
would be

[[Page 18353]]

captured. Females would be sedated (3-5 days after parturition), 
injected with 40 International Units of oxytocin, blood and milk (200 
ml) sampled, weighed and measured as above, administered doubly-labeled 
water or standard clinical tracer and released. Pups would be 
physically restrained, weighed and measured, blood sampled, and 
administered tritiated or deuturated water. During mid lactation an 
additional blood sample would be obtained from each mother/pup pair. At 
the end of lactation (day 25-28), the initial procedure would be 
repeated on mother pup pairs except for administration of oxygen-18. Up 
to 2,400 seals would be incidentally harassed during these activities.
    Male mating energetics: Up to 20 adult males would be captured, 
weighed on a truck scale, sedated, injected with tritiated water, 
measured and blood sampled at the beginning of the breeding season. 
This procedure would be repeated at the end of the breeding season. Up 
to 1,200 seals would be incidentally harassed during these activities.
    Bioacoustics: Each year source level recordings of vocalizations 
and playback experiments would be conducted on 50 adult males, 50 
subadult males, 50 adult females, and 50 pups for a total of 200 
animals. The bioacoustics research described here involves Level B 
harassment (behavioral observation and recording) and could potentially 
alter individual seal's behavior. However, all playbacks would be brief 
in nature (generally less than 5 minutes), never louder than naturally 
occurring seal vocalization levels, and responses from the seals (if 
any) would be expected to be very brief (e.g. an orientation or call in 
response but nothing more).
    File No. 1066-1750: The applicant, Michael Williams, proposes to 
take northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) during disentanglement 
activities. The primary research focus is to estimate the annual 
proportion of sub-adult male seals entangled in derelict fishing gear 
and marine debris, compare these estimates to estimates from the 
Pribilof Islands of St. Paul and St. George in previous years, and 
capture and disentangle seals observed on both. This work would occur 
during the subsistence harvest round-ups and would be coordinated with 
subsistence harvest round-ups to prevent duplicating disturbances at 
harvested haulout sites. The secondary focus is to count the number of 
fur seals entangled, and capture and disentangle them individually 
after commercial harvest season has ended on St. Paul Island only. 
Females and pre-weaned pups would be captured during the solo captures, 
but it is anticipated that the vast majority of seals captured would be 
sub-adult males. Animals captured would be blood sampled, wounds from 
entangled debris would be swabbed and fecal samples would be collected. 
The following table outlines the number of animals proposed to be 
harassed and captured annually for three years.

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                                                                                                                                Capture, blood sample,
                                                         Harassed Intentionally (Level B)   Harassed Incidentally (Level B)    wound swab, fecal sample
                                                                                                                                      (Level A)
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St. Paul Island-males                                                               6,000                             1,200                          110
St. Paul Island-females                                                                15                               200                           15
St. Paul Island-pups                                                                   10                               400                           10
St. George Island-males                                                             5,000                             1,000                           40
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    Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register, NMFS is forwarding copies of these applications to the Marine 
Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.

    Dated: April 2, 2004.
Patrick Opay,
Acting Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-7904 Filed 4-6-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S