[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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