[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 28, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 30610]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-11884]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XI10


Endangered Species; File No. 10037

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, Georgia 30602, has been issued a permit to take shortnose 
sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) 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)427-2521; and
    Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL 
33701; phone (727)824-5312; fax (727)824-5309.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Malcolm Mohead or Kate Swails, 
(301)713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 11, 2007, notice was published 
in the Federal Register (72 FR 51803) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take shortnose sturgeon had been submitted by the 
above-named individual. 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).
    Dr. Peterson is authorized to conduct research on shortnose 
sturgeon for five years to assess the abundance, age structure, 
distribution, movement, and critical habitat on the Ogeechee River, 
Georgia, and will also investigate the adverse effects of estrogenic 
compounds. Researchers may capture up to 150 shortnose sturgeon 
annually using gill and trammel nets and also anesthetize, measure, 
weigh, tissue and fin-ray sample, and PIT tag these fish. A subset of 
up to 10 sturgeon annually (no more than 40 during the permit life) 
will be laparoscoped and implanted with internal radio tags; a subset 
of up to 5 sturgeon annually (no more than 20 during the permit life) 
will be laparoscoped and fitted with external radio tags; and a subset 
of up to 12 sturgeon will be health evaluated using laparoscopy and 
venipuncture annually. The unintentional mortality of up to 2 shortnose 
sturgeon annually is permitted. Additionally researchers may also 
lethally collect up to 40 shortnose sturgeon eggs/larvae annually using 
buffer pads in order to document spawning.
    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 such endangered or threatened 
species, and (3) is consistent with the purposes and policies set forth 
in section 2 of the ESA.

    Dated: May 21, 2008.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-11884 Filed 5-27-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S