[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 100 (Thursday, May 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 24167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10681]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Permit Applications Received Under the Antarctic 
Conservation Act of 1978

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice of permit applications received.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to publish a 
notice of permit applications received to conduct activities regulated 
under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. NSF has published 
regulations under the Antarctic Conservation Act in the Code of Federal 
Regulations. This is the required notice of permit applications 
received.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit written data, comments, 
or views with respect to this permit application by June 26, 2017. This 
application may be inspected by interested parties at the Permit 
Office, address below.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Permit Office, Room 755, 
Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson 
Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nature McGinn, ACA Permit Officer, at 
the above address, or at [email protected], or at (703) 292-8224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Science Foundation, as directed 
by the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541, 45 CFR part 
670), as amended by the Antarctic Science, Tourism and Conservation Act 
of 1996, has developed regulations for the establishment of a permit 
system for various activities in Antarctica and designation of certain 
animals and certain geographic areas a requiring special protection. 
The regulations establish such a permit system to designate Antarctic 
Specially Protected Areas.

Application Details

Permit Application: 2018-002

1. Applicant: Dr. William R. Fraser, Polar Oceans Research Group, P.O. 
Box 368, Sheridan, MT 59749

Activity for Which Permit Is Requested

    Enter Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs), Take, and Import 
into the USA. The applicant conducts research as part of the Palmer 
Station Long-Term Ecological Research Program (Palmer LTER: Land-Shelf-
Ocean Connectivity, Ecosystem Resilience and Transformation in a Sea-
Ice Influenced Pelagic Ecosystem). The applicant will conduct research 
into relating variability in seabird ecology to changes in the physical 
and biological environment, especially sea ice, snow conditions and the 
availability of prey. The applicants research will comprise two 
complimentary components at summer breeding colonies of seabirds and in 
their pelagic marine foraging environment. The applicant will continue 
long term-research efforts to assess how annual environmental 
variability affects seabird diets, breeding success, growth rates, 
survival and recruitment, behavior, population trends, foraging success 
and seasonal dispersal. The applicant will use the following methods; 
(1) census populations and mark breeding territories; (2) capture, 
mark, band and/or weigh adults, chicks and eggs; (3) obtain diet 
samples by stomach lavage, by screening contents of terrestrial 
sediment traps and/or by collecting regurgitated or defecated prey 
items; (4) place transmitters on individuals; (5) place instrumented 
artificial eggs under incubating individuals; (6) obtain tissue samples 
from adults and chicks (e.g., preen gland oil, blood, feathers, egg 
yolk, toenails); (7) collect addles/infertile eggs no longer being 
incubated; (8) use GPS/GIS technologies to update existing breeding 
habitat maps; and (9) salvage dead specimens in good condition for 
educational purposes. The applicant will use all/some of the above 
methods on the following species; Adelie Penguin, Chinstrap Penguin, 
Gentoo Penguin, Brown Skua, South Polar Skua, Southern Giant Petrel, 
Blue-Eyed Shag, Kelp Gull, Snowy Sheathbill. All seabirds involved in 
this research will be released unharmed. To conduct the research, the 
applicant plans to enter the following Antarctic Specially Protected 
Areas; ASPA 107--Dion Islands, ASPA 113--Litchfield Island, ASPA 115--
Lagotellerie Island, ASPA 117--Avian Island, ASPA 139--Biscoe Point, 
and ASPA 170--Charcot Island.

Location

    Palmer Station area, Marguerite Bay, Charcot/Alexander Island 
regions. ASPA 107--Dion Islands, ASPA 113--Litchfield Island, ASPA 
115--Lagotellerie Island, ASPA 117--Avian Island, ASPA 139--Biscoe 
Point, and ASPA 170--Charcot Island.

Dates

    October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2022.

Nadene G. Kennedy,
Polar Coordination Specialist, Office of Polar Programs.
[FR Doc. 2017-10681 Filed 5-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7555-01-P