[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 194 (Thursday, October 8, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 51836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-24310]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XR99


Endangered Species; File No. 14634

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

ACTION:  Notice; receipt of application.

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SUMMARY:  Notice is hereby given that Douglas Peterson, PhD, University 
of Georgia, Warnell School of Forest Resources, Athens, GA 30602, has 
applied in due form for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser 
brevirostrum) for purposes of scientific research.

DATES:  Written, telefaxed, or e-mail comments must be received on or 
before November 9, 2009.

ADDRESSES:  The application and related documents are available for 
review by selecting ``Records Open for Public Comment'' from the 
Features box on the Applications and Permits for Protected Species 
(APPS) home page, https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/index.cfm, and then 
selecting File No. 14634 from the list of available applications. The 
application 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, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 
33701; phone (727)824-5312; fax (727)824-5309.
    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 may also be submitted by facsimile at (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 may also be submitted by e-mail. The mailbox address for 
providing e-mail comments is [email protected]. Include in the 
subject line of the e-mail comment the following document identifier: 
File No. 14634.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject permit is requested 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 
222-226).
    Dr. Douglas Peterson, Warnell School of Forest Resources (Fisheries 
Division), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, has requested 
a 5-year permit to maintain and conduct research on 95 hatchery-reared 
shortnose sturgeon at the University of Georgia to meet the following 
objectives: (1) quantify differences in the environmental tolerances of 
northern versus southern range shortnose sturgeon and (2) evaluate 
ontogenetic changes in the environmental tolerances of juvenile 
shortnose sturgeon. The fish would be obtained from the Warm Springs 
National Fish Hatchery and Regional Fisheries Center (USFWS), Warm 
Springs, Georgia 31830, under NMFS Permit 1604. Using a series of 
replicated laboratory (lethal and non-lethal) experiments, the 
researcher would evaluate the individual, additive, and interactive 
effects of the three habitat variables most critical in determining 
summer habitat quality for both juveniles and adult shortnose sturgeon: 
maximum water temperature, maximum salinity, and minimum concentration 
of dissolved oxygen. Researchers would also examine how environmental 
tolerances of shortnose sturgeon change with age and conditioning 
(chronic exposure). Future scientific research with these fish would 
involve studies of nutrition, tagging, physiology, environmental 
tolerance, contaminants, fish health, behavioral, tagging, genetics, 
and fish culture techniques. The permit would not authorize any takes 
from the wild, nor would it authorize any release of captive sturgeon 
into the wild.

    Dated: October 2, 2009.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-24310 Filed 10-7-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S