[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 18 (Monday, January 28, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5779-5780]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01701]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC322


Endangered Species; File No. 16248

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 Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, 
P.O. Box 1060, Columbia, South Carolina 29202 [Jennifer Rawlings, 
Responsible Party], has been issued a permit to hold shortnose sturgeon 
(Acipenser brevirostrum) for the purposes of enhancement.

ADDRESSES: The permit and related documents are available for review 
upon written request or by appointment in the following offices:


[[Page 5780]]


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
Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Ave. South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; 
phone (727) 824-5312; fax (727) 824-5309.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 30, 2012, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (77 FR 65673) that a request for an enhancement 
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 Riverbanks Zoo and Garden has been issued a permit to continue 
enhancement activities previously authorized under Permit No. 1589. 
Activities include the care and maintenance of two captive-bred, non-
releasable shortnose sturgeon. The display is used to increase public 
awareness of the shortnose sturgeon and its status by educating the 
public on shortnose sturgeon life history and the reasons for the 
species decline. The project to display endangered cultured shortnose 
sturgeon responds directly to a recommendation from the NMFS recovery 
plan outline for this species. The permit does not authorize any takes 
from the wild, nor does it authorize any release of captive sturgeon 
into the wild. The permit is valid for five years.
    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 23, 2013.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-01701 Filed 1-25-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P