[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 192 (Tuesday, October 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61345-61346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25557]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA599


Marine Mammals; File No. 16094

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

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a permit has been issued to the 
Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau, AK to conduct research on 
marine mammals.

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) 427-8401; fax (301) 713-0376; and
    Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668; phone 
(907) 586-7221; fax (907) 586-7249.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tammy Adams or Joselyd Garcia-Reyes, 
(301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 29, 2011, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (76 FR 45514) that a request for a permit to 
conduct research on harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) throughout their 
range in Alaska, including Southeast Alaska, Gulf of Alaska, and Bering 
Sea, had been submitted by the above-named applicant. The requested 
permit has been issued under the authority of the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), and the 
regulations governing the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 
CFR part 216).
    The permitted takes include aerial surveys for population census 
and radio tracking; ground surveys for photo-identification, counts and 
behavioral observations; vessel approaches of animals equipped with 
telemetry equipment; vessel surveys for radio tracking; and capture by 
entanglement in a net in the water or by hoop net or dip net on land. 
Captured animals will: be restrained (chemical or physical); be weighed 
and measured; have biological samples collected (blood, milk (lactating 
females), blubber, skin, muscle, hair, mucus membrane swabs, stomach 
lavage, tooth and vibrissae); be administered deuterated water; have 
measurement of blubber via ultrasound; be marked with flipper 
identification tags; and have internal (PIT tags) or external 
scientific instruments attached. Tissue samples will be collected from 
subsistence harvested animals and other mortalities and some samples 
will be exported to Canada for analysis. The permit is valid through 
December 31, 2016.
    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a final determination has been made that the 
activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to 
prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.


[[Page 61346]]


    Dated: September 28, 2011.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of 
Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-25557 Filed 10-3-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P