[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 55 (Thursday, March 21, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 17359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06532]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XB155


Endangered Species; File No. 17095-01

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

ACTION: Notice, issuance of permit modification.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc., 
450 Broadway, Suite 3, Buchanan, NY 10511 [Responsible Party: John 
Ventosa], has been issued a permit modification to take shortnose 
sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) and Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser 
oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) for purposes of scientific research.

ADDRESSES: The permit modification 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
     Northeast Region, NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930; phone (978) 281-9328; fax (978) 281-9394.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 29, 2013, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (78 FR 6072) that a request for a scientific 
research permit modification to take shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic 
sturgeon had been submitted by the above-named applicant. The requested 
permit modification 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).
    Permit No. 17095 currently authorizes the Permit Holder to: Monitor 
shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon abundance and distribution through the 
Hudson River Biological Monitoring Program (HRBMP) in the Hudson River 
from River Mile 0 (Battery Park, Manhattan, NY) to River Mile 152 at 
Troy Dam (Albany, NY). Researchers are authorized to non-lethally 
capture, handle, measure, weigh, scan for tags, insert passive 
integrated transponder and dart tags, photograph, tissue sample, and 
release up to 82 shortnose sturgeon and 82 Atlantic sturgeon annually. 
Additionally, researchers are permitted to lethally collect up to 40 
shortnose sturgeon and up to 40 Atlantic sturgeon eggs and/or larvae 
(ELS) annually.
    To account for a higher than expected catch per tow sampling 
performed authorized under Permit No. 17095, the Permit Holder now is 
authorized to increase the takes of juvenile, sub-adult and/or adult 
Atlantic sturgeon to 200 fish per year. Takes must not exceed a total 
of 600 Atlantic sturgeon captured over the permit life. The Permit 
Holder will also expand the sampling activities for juvenile, sub-adult 
and adult shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon to include upper New 
York Harbor (~River Mile -2.0). The modification is valid until the 
permit expires August 28, 2017.
    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: March 18, 2013.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-06532 Filed 3-20-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P