[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 179 (Thursday, September 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 55797]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20810]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 072204G]


Endangered Species; File No. 1420

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. Douglas Peterson, Warnell 
School of Forest Resources Fisheries Division, University of Georgia, 
Athens, GA 30602 has been issued a permit to conduct scientific 
research on shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum).

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; and
    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: Jennifer Jefferies or Dr. Tammy Adams, 
(301)713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 10, 2003, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (68 FR 11533) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take shortnose sturgeon had been submitted by Dr. 
Douglas Peterson. 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).
    In order to provide critical data on stock status, life history, 
and survival rates as well as to identify specific habitat requirements 
of the various life stages of the shortnose sturgeon in the Altamaha 
River, Georgia, Dr. Peterson will be authorized to capture up to 200 
adult fish annually from via gill and trammel netting. Fish will be 
measured, weighed, PIT and Carlin tagged, tissue and pectoral fin ray 
sampled, and subsequently released. Additionally, up to 30 of the fish 
captured over the course of the permit will also receive an internal 
radio-sonic transmitter and be tracked. Dr. Peterson will also be 
authorized to deploy artificial substrate samplers from February to 
mid-March to collect up to 100 shortnose sturgeon eggs annually.
    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: September 2, 2004.
Stephen L. Leathery,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-20810 Filed 9-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S