[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 14484]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05705]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD002


Marine Mammals; File No. 18182

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 Marilyn Mazzoil, Harbor Branch 
Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University, 5600 US 1 
North, Fort Pierce, Florida 34946 has been issued a permit to take 
bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) 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
    Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL 
33701; phone (727) 824-5312; fax (727) 824-5309.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Courtney Smith or Amy Hapeman, (301) 
427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 27 November 2013, notice was published in 
the Federal Register (78 FR 70920) that a request for a scientific 
research permit to take bottlenose dolphins had been submitted by the 
above-named individual. The requested permit has been issued under the 
authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended 
(MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the regulations governing the taking 
and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216).
    Ms. Mazzoil has been issued a permit to study and determine: (1) 
Abundance estimation; (2) occurrence and distribution; (3) behavioral 
information; and (4) population structure and life history parameters 
of bottlenose dolphins along the east coast of Florida, from Fernandina 
Beach to Jupiter. Researchers may take dolphins during vessel surveys 
for counts, photo-identification, focal follows, observation, and 
biopsy sampling. The permit expires on March 10, 2019.
    Issuance of this permit, as required by the MMPA, 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 the MMPA.
    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.

    Dated: March 10, 2014.
Perry F. Gayaldo,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-05705 Filed 3-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P