[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 52072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21288]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-PR-A003
Marine Mammals; File No. 22629
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; receipt of application.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Mystic Aquarium (Responsible
Party: Stephen M. Coan, Ph.D.), has applied in due form for a permit to
import five beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) for scientific
research.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 2, 2019.
ADDRESSES: The permit application is available for review online at
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/permit-application-import-5-beluga-whales-scientific-research-file-no-22629-mystic-aquarium or 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.
You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2019-0113, by any
of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit electronic public comments
via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal www.regulations.gov. To submit
comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, enter NOAA-NMFS-2019-0113 in the
keyword search. Locate the document you wish to comment on from the
resulting list and click on the ``Comment Now'' icon on the right of
that line.
Mail: Comments on the application should be addressed to:
Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS,
1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; ATTN:
Jolie Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division.
Fax: (301) 713-0376; ATTN: Jolie Harrison, Chief, Permits
and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources.
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above
methods. All comments received are a part of the public record and will
generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without
change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address,
etc.) submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible.
Do not submit confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive
or protected information. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter
``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word,
Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
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 this application would be appropriate.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Sloan, Courtney Smith, or Jennifer
Skidmore, (301) 427-8401.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject permit is requested 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).
Mystic Aquarium requests to import five (5) captive-born beluga
whales from Marineland of Canada (Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada) to
Mystic Aquarium (Mystic, Connecticut, U.S.A.) for scientific research
purposes to contribute knowledge and inform management and recovery of
beluga populations in the wild, including the depleted Sakhalin Bay-
Nikolaya Bay-Amur River beluga whale stock and the endangered Cook
Inlet beluga whale distinct population segment. The subject beluga
whales were born at Marineland of Canada and are progeny of beluga
whales that originated from the depleted Sakhalin Bay-Nikolaya Bay-Amur
River stock (81 FR 74711). The proposed research would occur year-round
at Mystic Aquarium or Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.) and
includes investigations on (1) the neuroimmunological response to
environmental and anthropogenic stressors; (2) the development of novel
non-invasive techniques to assess health in free-ranging and stranded
beluga whales; (3) the hearing and physiological response to
anthropogenic sound; (4) morphometrics to inform photogrammetry
studies; (5) diving physiology; (6) microbiome; (7) behavior and
reproduction; and 8) testing of prototype telemetry devices and cameras
before deployment on wild beluga whales.
To accomplish these objectives, researchers would conduct the
following procedures on the five whales using trained behaviors and
voluntary participation: biological sampling (blood, exhalate, saliva,
swabs, feces, skin scrapes); auditory evoked potential measurements
(baseline audiograms and masked hearing sessions); photogrammetry
(measurements, weight, photography/video); behavioral observations;
ultrasound; and deployment of suction-cup attached devices. The whales
would be placed on public display incidental to the proposed research.
The requested duration of the permit is five years, the maximum
duration of an MMPA permit.
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial determination has been made that
the activity proposed is categorically excluded from the requirement to
prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal
Register, NMFS is forwarding a copy of the application to the Marine
Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.
Dated: September 24, 2019.
Julia Marie Harrison,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-21288 Filed 9-30-19; 8:45 am]
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