[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 79 (Monday, April 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21601-21602]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-9620]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XV94


Endangered Species; File No. 14604

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 Harold Brundage, Environmental 
Research and Consulting, Inc, 126 Bancroft Road, Kennett Square, PA 
19348, 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) 281-9328; fax 
(978) 281-9394.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 19, 2009, notice was published 
in the Federal Register (74 FR 59961) 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 characterize habitat use, relative abundance, 
reproduction, juvenile recruitment, temporal and spatial distributions, 
and reproductive health of the shortnose sturgeon population in the 
Delaware River and Estuary. The permit authorizes non-lethal sampling 
methods on up to 1,000 adult and juvenile shortnose sturgeon annually. 
Research activities will include: capturing via gill net, trammel net, 
and trawl net; measuring and weighing; tagging with external identifier 
PIT and Floy T-bar tags; and sampling tissue for genetic analysis. A 
subset of 30 adults and 30 juveniles per year will be tagged with 
acoustic transmitters and tracked. Another subset of 24 adults will be 
annually examined internally using laparoscopic techniques, with each 
potentially having gonad biopsy and blood samples taken for analyses. 
Another subset of 20 adults per year will be included in hydroacoustic 
gear testing. Additionally, lethal takes of up to 300 eggs or larvae 
each year will be collected during seasonal spawning activity with gear 
such as artificial substrate, D-frame ichthyoplankton net, and/or 
epibenthic sled. Finally, up to one unintentional mortality or serious 
injury is permitted annually, with no more than three mortalities over 
the five year permit. 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.


[[Page 21602]]


    Dated: April 20, 2010.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-9620 Filed 4-23-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S