48146 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 152 / Monday, August 8, 2011 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA620 

Endangered Species; File No. 1551 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for 

permit modification. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

NMFS, Southeast Fisheries Science 

Center (SEFSC), 75 Virginia Beach 

Drive, Miami, FL 33149 (Responsible 

Party: Bonnie Ponwith), has requested a 

modification to scientific research 

Permit No. 1551–02. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or e-mail 

comments must be received on or before 

September 7, 2011. 

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. 1551–03 from the list of 

available applications. 

These documents are also available 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following offices: 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

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 

Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL 

33701; phone (727) 824–5312; fax (727) 

824–5309. 

Written comments on this application 

should be submitted to the Chief, 

Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, at the above address. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

facsimile to (301) 713–0376, or by email to NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. 

Please include the File No. in the 

subject line of the e-mail comment. 

Those individuals requesting a public 

hearing should submit a written request 

to the Chief, Permits, Conservation and 

Education 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 Hapeman or Carrie Hubard, (301) 

427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject modification to Permit No. 

1551–02 is requested under the 

authority of the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.) and the regulations governing the 

taking, importing, and exporting of 

endangered and threatened species (50 

CFR 222–226). 

Permit No. 1551, issued on July 24, 

2008 (73 FR 44225), authorizes research 

on loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green 

(Chelonia mydas), Kemp’s ridley 

(Lepidochelys kempii), olive ridley 

(Lepidochelys olivacea), hawksbill 

(Eretmochelys imbricata), and 

leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea 

turtles in coastal and inshore waters of 

the North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and 

Caribbean Sea. Turtles may be taken by 

harassment during aerial and vessel 

surveys and direct capture. Researchers 

may also access animals legally 

captured incidental to fishing activities. 

Researchers are authorized to conduct a 

variety of sampling and tagging 

activities in order to collect biological 

and ecological information on these 

species that will aid conservation of the 

species. 

The SEFSC requests a modification to 

the permit to increase the number of sea 

turtles (an additional 75 leatherback, 

1,150 loggerhead, 75 green, 100 Kemp’s 

ridley, and 900 unidentified hardshell 

sea turtles annually) that may be 

harassed during aerial surveys. This 

work would assess potential injury from 

Mississippi Canyon 252 oil on sea turtle 

populations in the northern Gulf of 

Mexico as part of the post-spill Natural 

Resources Damage Assessment of the BP 

Deepwater Horizon event. The 

modification would be valid through 

July 1, 2013. 

Dated: August 2, 2011. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20074 Filed 8–5–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA160 

Marine Mammals; File No. 15330 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a 

permit has been issued to Robin Baird, 

PhD, Cascadia Research, 2181⁄2 W. 4th 

Avenue, Olympia, WA 98501 to take 

marine mammals in the Pacific Ocean 

for the purposes of scientific research. 

ADDRESSES: The permit and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following offices: See 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Morse or Carrie Hubard, (301) 

427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

February 25, 2011, notice was published 

in the Federal Register (76 FR 10560) 

that a request for a permit to conduct 

research on forty species of cetaceans 

and unidentified mesoplodon and 

baleen species in all U.S. and 

international waters in the Pacific 

Ocean, including Alaska, Washington, 

Oregon, California, Hawaii, and other 

U.S. territories had been submitted by 

the above-named applicant. The 

requested permit has been issued under 

the authority of the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 

U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the regulations 

governing the taking and importing of 

marine mammals (50 CFR part 216), the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 

the regulations governing the taking, 

importing, and exporting of endangered 

and threatened species (50 CFR parts 

222–226), and the Fur Seal Act of 1966, 

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.). 

Authorized research will include 

harassment of 40 cetacean species 

through vessel approach for sighting 

surveys, photographic identification, 

behavioral research, opportunistic 

sampling (breath, sloughed skin, fecal 

material, and prey remains), and aerial 

over-flights for the purpose of locating 

animals and conducting aerial 

validation studies. All cetacean species 

(except harbor porpoise (Phocoena 

phocoena), right whales (Eubalaena 

japonica), and Cook Inlet beluga whales 

(Delphinapterus leucas)) and 

unidentified mesoplodon and baleen 

species will be targeted for dart and/or 

suction-cup tagging. Import and export 

of marine mammal prey specimens, 

sloughed skin, fecal and breath samples 

obtained is authorized. Seven species of 

pinnipeds may be incidentally harassed 

during research activities. The permit is 

valid until August 1, 2016. 

An environmental assessment (EA) 

was prepared analyzing the effects of 

the permitted activities on the human 

environment in compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Based on 

the analyses in the EA, NMFS 

determined that issuance of the permit 

would not significantly impact the 

quality of the human environment and 

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