[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 6 (Monday, January 10, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 1405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-284]



[[Page 1405]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[File No. 15112]
RIN 0648-XA128


Endangered Species

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 NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science 
Center, Woods Hole, MA has been issued a permit to take loggerhead 
(Caretta caretta), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Kemp's ridley 
(Lepidochelys kempii), green (Chelonia mydas), and hawksbill 
(Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles for purposes of scientific 
research.

ADDRESSES: The permit 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;
    Northeast Region, NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 
01930; phone (978) 281-9328; fax (978) 281-9394; and
    Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL 
33701; phone (727) 824-5312; fax (727) 824-5309.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristy Beard or Amy Hapeman, (301) 
713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 1, 2010, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (75 FR 16482) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take sea turtles 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 five-year permit authorizes up to 130 loggerhead, 70 Kemp's 
ridley, 60 green, 10 hawksbill, and 60 leatherback sea turtles legally 
caught in commercial fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, from 
North Carolina to Maine, to be measured, flipper tagged, tissue 
sampled, and released annually. The research would contribute to the 
understanding of the pelagic ecology of these species and allow more 
reliable assessments of commercial fishery impacts.
    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 4, 2011.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-284 Filed 1-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P