[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 1029]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-139]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XT56


Marine Mammals; File No. 14486

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 the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC), 
301 Railway Avenue, PO Box 1329, Seward, Alaska 99664-1329 (Dr. Ian 
Dutton, Responsible Party), has applied in due form for a permit to 
receive, import, and export marine mammal specimens for scientific 
research purposes.

DATES:  Written, telefaxed, or e-mail comments must be received on or 
before February 8, 2010.

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, and then selecting File 
No. 14486 from the list of available applications.
    These documents are also available 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
    Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668; phone 
(907)586-7221; fax (907)586-7249.
    Written comments on this application should be submitted to the 
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, at the address 
listed above. Comments may also be submitted by facsimile to (301)713-
0376, or by email to [email protected]. Please include the File 
No. 14486 in the subject line of the email comment.
    Those individuals requesting a public hearing should submit a 
written request to the Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 
Division at the address listed above. The request should set forth the 
specific reasons why a hearing on this application would be 
appropriate.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject permit is 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), the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the 
regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting of 
endangered and threatened species (50 CFR 222-226), and the Fur Seal 
Act of 1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.).
    The primary objective of this application is to support multiple 
ongoing research programs at the ASLC, including studies of population 
ecology, diet and nutrition, reproductive physiology, toxicology and 
health of marine mammals. The ASLC requests the annual collection, 
receipt, import and export of unlimited samples from 4000 individual 
cetaceans and 5,000 individual pinnipeds under NMFS jurisdiction for 
continued research on these species. Samples would be collected under 
existing permits in the countries of origin, would be the product of a 
legal subsistence hunt, incidental by-catch, routine husbandry/medical 
examinations of public display animals in the U.S., or opportunistic 
carcass collection, or would be samples taken under other permitted 
research activities. No takes of live animals, direct or indirect, are 
requested in this application. ASLC requests the permit be issued for 
five years.
    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial determination has been made that 
the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to 
prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
    Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register, NMFS is forwarding copies of the application to the Marine 
Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.

    Dated: January 4, 2010.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-139 Filed 1-7-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S