[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 28, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 45021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17185]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 032404G]


Endangered Species; File No. 1444

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 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Maryland Fisheries Resource Office, 177 Admiral Cochrane 
Drive, Annapolis, Maryland 21401 (Michael Mangold, principal 
investigator) has been issued a permit to take shortnose sturgeon 
(Acipenser brevirosturm) 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; and,
    Northeast Region, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-
2298; phone (978)281-9200; fax (978)281-9371.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Jefferies or Tammy Adams, 
(301)713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 9, 2003, notice was published 
in the Federal Register(68 FR 53140) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take shortnose sturgeon 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).
    USFWS will be authorized to sample and track shortnose sturgeon in 
the Potomac River. Annually, up to 50 fish will be taken via gill nets, 
measured, weighed, PIT tagged, tissue sampled, and the fish 
subsequently released. A subset of 20 fish annually will also be T-bar 
and CART tagged and have a temperature/depth datalogger attached. 
Additionally, the researchers will use D-traps to collect up to 2500 
shortnose sturgeon eggs annually. This permit will be authorized for 
five years.
    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: July 22, 2004.
Stephen L. Leathery,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-17185 Filed 7-27-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S