[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 123 (Friday, June 26, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 36770]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-15774]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD608


Endangered Species; File No. 19255

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

ACTION: Notice; receipt of amended application.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Delaware Department of Natural 
Resources and Environmental Control (DENREC) [Responsible Party: 
Michael Stangl], 3002 Bayside Dr., Dover, Delaware 19977, has submitted 
a revised application for a permit to take shortnose sturgeon 
(Acipenser brevirostrum) and Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus 
oxyrinchus) in the Delaware River for purposes of scientific research.

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or email comments must be received on or 
before July 27, 2015.

ADDRESSES: The application and related documents are available for 
review by selecting ``Records Open for Public Comment'' from the 
``Features'' box on the Applications and Permits for Protected Species 
(APPS) home page, https://apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then selecting File 
No. 19255 from the list of available applications.
    These documents are also available upon written request or by 
appointment in the 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.
    Written comments on this application should be submitted to the 
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, at the address listed above. 
Comments may also be submitted by facsimile to (301) 713-0376, or by 
email to [email protected]. Please include File No.19255 in the 
subject line of the email comment.
    Those individuals requesting a public hearing should submit a 
written request to the Chief, Permits and Conservation Division at the 
address listed above. The request should set forth the specific reasons 
why a hearing on the application(s) would be appropriate.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Malcolm Mohead or Rosa L. 
Gonz[aacute]lez, (301) 427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 17, 2014, notice was published 
(79 FR 68413) of a request for a permit 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 applicant had previously proposed annual takes of 50 endangered 
shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), capturing them with 
gillnets, weighing, measuring to total length (TL), examining for tags, 
marking with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags, and T-bar tags, 
genetic tissue sampling, photographing, and releasing. Up to 15 
juvenile shortnose sturgeon (<=500 mm TL) were requested to also be 
anesthetized and surgically implanted with acoustic transmitters, and 
then tracked with receivers to document juvenile nursery areas, 
individual movement patterns, seasonal movements, home ranges, and 
habitat usage in the tidally influenced portion of the Delaware River 
between river kilometers 119 and 148. A single unintentional mortality 
of a shortnose sturgeon was requested throughout the life of the 5-year 
permit.
    The applicant has now amended the application, asking that the 
permit authorize 50 juvenile (<=500 mm TL) and 10 adult/sub-adult (>500 
mm TL) shortnose sturgeon annually. Additionally, a total of 265 
juvenile (<=600mm TL) and 10 adult/sub-adult (>600 mm TL) Atlantic 
sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) taken annually are added to 
the permit request. Each Atlantic sturgeon would be weighed, measured, 
examined for tags, marked with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) 
tags, and T-bar tags, genetic tissue sampled, and photographed. A 
subset of 30 juvenile Atlantic sturgeon would be anesthetized and 
implanted with acoustic transmitters; a subset of 30 juvenile Atlantic 
sturgeon would be anesthetized and gastric lavaged for diet analysis; 
and another subset of 30 Atlantic sturgeon would be anesthetized and 
fin ray sampled for age analysis. The applicant requests one annual 
unintentional mortality of an adult, sub-adult or juvenile Atlantic 
sturgeon, but no more than two adults or sub-adults over the life of 
the permit. As some of these takes are now authorized for the applicant 
in a separate scientific research permit (Permit No. 16431), if the new 
permit is issued as proposed, Permit No. 16431 would then be 
terminated. Please refer to the table in the amended application for 
the numbers of animals proposed for taking, and the locations and 
manner of such taking.

    Dated: June 23, 2015.
Julia Harrison,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-15774 Filed 6-25-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P