[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 22, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 30261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-12364]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA712


Endangered Species; File No. 16306

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 the Maine Department of Marine 
Resources, (Gail Wippelhauser, Ph.D., Responsible Party), 21 State 
House Station, Augusta, ME 04333, has been issued a permit to take 
shortnose sturgeon 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 and Conservation 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
    Northeast Region, NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 
01930; phone (978) 281-9328; fax (978) 281-9394.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colette Cairns or Malcolm Mohead, 
(301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 21, 2011, notice was published 
in the Federal Register (76 FR 58471) 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 Maine Department of Marine Resources was issued a five-year 
permit to determine movement, natal river origin, and other vital 
population parameters of shortnose sturgeon in Maine waters. 
Researchers will capture adult and juvenile shortnose sturgeon, and 
lethally collect early life-stage shortnose sturgeon. Individuals will 
be measured, weighed, photographed, PIT tagged, Floy/T-bar tagged, 
tissue sampled, and boroscoped; subsets of fish will be apical spine 
sampled, anesthetized, lavaged, blood sampled, fin ray sectioned, or 
implanted or fitted with an internal or external telemetry tag.
    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: May 16, 2012.
Tammy C. Adams,
Acting Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-12364 Filed 5-21-12; 8:45 am]
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