[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 45 (Friday, March 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 13042]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05014]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XS35


Marine Mammals; File No. 14450

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 
National Marine Fisheries Service's Southeast Fisheries Science Center 
(SEFSC), 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, Florida 33149 [Principal 
Investigator: Dr. Keith Mullin] 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 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;
    Northeast Region, NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 
01930; phone (978) 281-9328; fax (978) 281-9394; and
    Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL 
33701; phone (727) 824-5312; fax (727) 824-5309.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristy Beard, (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 19, 2009, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (74 FR 53467) that a request for a permit to 
conduct research on all cetacean species that occur in U.S. and 
international waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and 
Caribbean 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.), the 
regulations governing the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 
CFR part 216), 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 permit authorizes takes by harassment during aerial and vessel-
based line-transect sampling, acoustic sampling, behavioral 
observations, and vessel-based photo-identification and biopsy 
sampling. Tissue samples collected in other countries may be imported 
into the U.S. The permit is valid for five years from the date of 
issuance.
    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.
    As required by the ESA, issuance of this permit 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 species; and (3) is consistent with the 
purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA.

    Dated: March 4, 2014.
Perry F. Gayaldo,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-05014 Filed 3-6-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P