[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4043-4044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1493]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XT92


Endangered Species; File No. 14396

AGENCY:  National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

[[Page 4044]]

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION:  Issuance of permit.

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SUMMARY:  Notice is hereby given the Delaware Department of Natural 
Resources and Environmental Control-Division of Fish and Wildlife, 
Dover, DE, 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) 713-0376; and
     Northeast Region, NMFS, Protected Resources Division, 55 
Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930; phone (978) 281-9300; fax 
(978) 281-9333.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 25, 2009, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (74 FR 42861) 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).
    The applicant is authorized to conduct a five-year scientific study 
of shortnose sturgeon in the Delaware River where primary study 
objectives are to locate and document nursery areas, individual 
movement patterns, seasonal movements, home ranges, and habitats of 
juvenile shortnose sturgeon using telemetry. The project will be 
coordinated with an ongoing Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus 
oxyrhinchus) study having similar research objectives. Annually, up to 
100 shortnose sturgeon will be weighed, measured, examined for tags, 
marked with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags and Floy tags, 
photographed and released. Additionally, a subset of up to 15 juvenile 
shortnose sturgeon will be anesthetized and implanted with acoustic 
transmitters. One unintentional mortality is authorized over the five 
year term of the project where sampling is scheduled from March 1 to 
December 15 each year.
    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: January 19, 2010.
Tammy C. Adams,
Acting Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-1493 Filed 1-25-10; 8:45 am]
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