Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 1997 / Notices 67051

Reporting

Caltrans will provide weekly reports

to the Southwest Regional Administer,

NMFS, including a summary of the

previous week’s monitoring activities

and an estimate of the number of harbor

seals that may have been disturbed as a

result of seismic retrofit construction

activities. These reports will provide

dates, time, tidal height, maximum

number of harbor seals ashore, number

of adults and sub-adults, number of

females/males, number of redcoats, and

any observed disturbances. A

description of retrofit activities at the

time of observation and any sound

pressure level measurements made at

the haulout will also be provided.

A draft interim report must be

submitted to the Southwest Regional

Administrator on August 1, 1998. A

draft final report must be submitted to

the Southwest Regional Administrator

within 90 days after the expiration of

Caltrans Incidental Harassment

Authorization. A final report must be

submitted to the Southwest Regional

Administrator within 30 days after

receiving comments from the Regional

Administrator on the draft final report.

NEPA

NMFS has prepared an EA that

concludes that the impacts of Caltrans’

seismic retrofit construction of the

Bridge will not have a significant impact

on the human environment. A copy of

the EA is available upon request (see

ADDRESSES).

Conclusions

NMFS has determined that the shortterm impact of the seismic retrofit

construction of the Bridge, as described

above, will result, at worst, in the

temporary modification in behavior by

harbor seals and possibly by some

California sea lions. While behavioral

modifications, including temporarily

vacating the haul-out, may be made by

these species to avoid the resultant

visual and acoustic disturbance, this

action is expected to have a negligible

impact on the animals. In addition, no

take by injury and/or death is

anticipated, and harassment takes will

be at the lowest level practicable due to

incorporation of the mitigation

measures mentioned above.

Since NMFS is assured that the taking

will not result in more than the

incidental harassment (as defined by the

MMPA) of small numbers of Pacific

harbor seals and possibly of California

sea lions; would not have an

unmitigatable adverse impact on the

availability of these stocks for

subsistence uses; and would result in

the least practicable impact on the

stocks, NMFS has determined that the

requirements of section 101(a)(5)(D)

have been met and the authorization can

be issued. For the above reasons, NMFS

has issued an IHA for a 1-year period

beginning on the date noted above (see

EFFECTIVE DATES) for the incidental

harassment of harbor seals and

California sea lions by the seismic

retrofit of the Richmond-San Rafael

Bridge, San Francisco Bay, California,

provided the above mentioned

monitoring and reporting requirements

are incorporated.

Dated: December 16, 1997.

Hilda Diaz-Soltero,

Director, Office of Protected Resources,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–33387 Filed 12–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 121797A]

Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative

Management Act; Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Coordination meeting.

SUMMARY: NMFS and the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service (USFWS) will hold a

joint meeting to discuss coordination of

activities that support Atlantic States

Marine Fisheries Commission coastal

fisheries management plans under the

Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative

Management Act (Pub. L. 103–206) and

the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation

Act (Pub. L. 102–103).

DATES: The meeting will convene on

Thursday, January 15, 1998, at 10:00

a.m. and will adjourn at approximately

3:00 p.m. The meeting is open to the

public.

ADDRESSES: National Marine Fisheries

Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver

Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Anne Lange, Intergovernmental and

Recreational Fisheries, NMFS 8484

Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD

20910. Telephone: (301) 427–2014.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFSUSFWS hold semi-annual coordination

meetings established under a

Memorandum of Understanding to

develop and implement a program to

support interstate fishery management

efforts associated with the Atlantic

Coastal Fisheries Cooperative

Management Act. The main agenda

items for this meeting are discussion of

the 1996–1997 Workplan; an update on

implementation of the Atlantic Coast

Cooperative Statistics Program; status of

cooperative coastal/citizen tagging

efforts; distribution of FY1998 Atlantic

Coastal Act funds; a 1998 striped bass

workshop; Striped Bass Act

reauthorization; and ASMFC Fishery

Management Plan work for 1998.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible

to people with disabilities. Requests for

sign language interpretation or other

auxiliary aids should be directed to

Anne Lange (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT) at least 7 days

prior to the meeting date.

Dated: December 17, 1997.

Richard Schaefer,

Chief, Staff Office for Intergovernmental and

Recreational Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–33473 Filed 12–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 121597B]

Permits; Foreign Fishing

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of foreign

fishing applications.

SUMMARY: NMFS publishes for public

review and comment summaries of

applications submitted by the

Government of Estonia and the

Government of Lithuania requesting

authorization to conduct fishing

operations in the U.S. Exclusive

Economic Zone (EEZ) in 1998 under

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

ADDRESSES: Comments may be

submitted to NMFS, Office of

Sustainable Fisheries, International

Fisheries Division, 1315 East-West

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910; and/

or to the Regional Fishery Management

Councils listed below:

Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,

New England Fishery Management

Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA

01906, (617) 231–0422;
67052 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 1997 / Notices

David R. Keifer, Executive Director,

Mid-Atlantic Fishery

Management Council, Federal

Building, Room 2115, 300 South New

Street, Dover, DE 19901–6790, (302)

674–2331.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert A. Dickinson, Office of

Sustainable Fisheries, (301) 713–2337.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

accordance with a Memorandum of

Understanding with the Secretary of

State, NMFS publishes for public review

and comment summaries of applications

received by the Secretary of State

requesting permits for foreign fishing

vessels to fish in the U.S. EEZ under

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act

(16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).

This notice concerns the receipt of an

application from the Government of

Estonia and the receipt of an application

from the Government of Lithuania

requesting authorization to conduct

joint venture (JV) operations in 1998 in

the Northwest Atlantic Ocean for

Atlantic mackerel and Atlantic herring.

The large stern trawler/processors

JACOB HURT and SOELA are identified

as the Estonian vessels that would

receive Atlantic mackerel and Atlantic

herring from U.S. vessels in JV

operations, and the large stern/trawler

processors MAIRONIS and UTENA are

identified as the Lithuanian vessels that

would receive Atlantic mackerel and

Atlantic herring from U.S. vessels in JV

operations.

While both applications also request

authorization for the named vessels to

directly harvest Atlantic mackerel and

Atlantic herring, since no ‘‘Total

Allowable Level of Foreign Fishing’’

(TALFF) is available for either of these

species, no foreign vessels can be

permitted to directly harvest Atlantic

mackerel or Atlantic herring.

Dated: December 16, 1997.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–33386 Filed 12–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 120597A]

Marine Mammals; Scientific Research

Permit No. 473–1433

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service, National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Issuance of permit.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that

Ms. Janice M. Straley, P.O. Box 273,

Sitka, Alaska 99835 has been issued a

permit to take humpback whales

(Megaptera novaeangliae), killer whales

(Orcinus orca), minke whales

(Balaenoptera acutorostrata), gray

whales (Eschrichtius robustus), and fin

whales (B. physalus) for purposes of

scientific research.

ADDRESSES: The permit and related

documents are available for review

upon written request or by appointment

in the following offices:

Permits Division, Office of Protected

Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West

Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring,

MD 20910 (301/713–2289); and

Regional Administrator, Alaska

Regional Office, NMFS, NOAA, 709

West 9th Street, Federal Building,

Juneau, Alaska 99802 (907–586–7221).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

October 31, 1997, notice was published

in the Federal Register (62 FR 58943)

that the above-named applicant had

submitted a request for a scientific

research permit to inadvertently harass

humpback whales (Megaptera

novaeangliae), during the course of

photo-identification research from

December 1, 1997, to November 30,

2002 in Alaska waters, and to

opportunistically photo-identify killer

whales (Orcinus orca), minke whales

(Balaenoptera acutorostrata), gray

whales (Eschrichtius robustus), and fin

whales (B. physalus) during the course

of the humpback whale studies. 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 (ESA) of 1973,

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and

the regulations governing the taking,

importing, and exporting of endangered

fish and wildlife (50 CFR part 222).

Issuance of this permit, as required by

the ESA, was based on a finding that

such permit: (1) Was applied for in good

faith; (2) will not operate to the

disadvantage of the endangered species

which is the subject of this permit; and

(3) is consistent with the purposes and

policies set forth in section 2 of the

ESA.

Dated: December 12, 1997.

Ann D. Terbush,

Chief, Permits and Documentation Division,

Office of Protected Resources, National

Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–33437 Filed 12–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

[I.D. 121797C]

Marine Mammals; Scientific Research

Permit No. 875–1401

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Receipt of application for

amendment.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Dr.

Christopher W. Clark, Cornell

University, Ithaca, New York 14850, has

requested an amendment to permit No.

875–1401.

DATES: Written comments must be

received on or before January 22, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The application for

amendment and related documents,

including a draft environmental

assessment (EA) that examines the

environmental consequences of issuing

the requested amended permit, are

available for review upon written

request or by appointment in the

following offices:

Permits Division, Office of Protected

Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West

Highway, Room 13705, Silver Spring,

MD 20910 (301/713–2289); and

Regional Administrator, Southwest

Region, 501 West Ocean Boulevard,

Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213

(562/980-4001).

Written data or views, or requests for

a public hearing on this request, should

be submitted to the Director, Office of

Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 EastWest Highway, Room 13705, Silver

Spring, MD 20910. Those individuals

requesting a hearing should set forth the

specific reasons why a hearing on this

application would be appropriate.

Concurrent with the publication of

this notice in the Federal Register,

NMFS is forwarding copies of this

application for amendment to the

Marine Mammal Commission and its

Committee of Scientific Advisors.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

subject amendment to permit No. 875–

1401 is requested 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 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and

the regulations governing the taking,

importing, and exporting of endangered

fish and wildlife (50 CFR part 222.23).