[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1671-1672]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-397]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XA925


Endangered Species; File No. 16194

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Issuance of permit.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the NMFS Southeast Fisheries 
Science Center (SEFSC) [Dr. Bonnie Ponwith, Responsible Party], 75 
Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149, has been issued a permit to take 
green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), loggerhead 
(Caretta caretta), Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), olive ridley 
(Lepidochelys olivacea), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and 
unidentified hardshell sea turtles 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:
    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; and Southeast Region, NMFS, 
263 13th Ave. South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; phone (727) 824-5312; 
fax (727) 824-5309.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colette Cairns or Amy Hapeman, (301) 
427-8401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 9, 2011, notice was published in 
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[[Page 1672]]

Federal Register (76 FR 48806) that a request for a scientific research 
permit to take green, loggerhead, hawksbill, leatherback, Kemp's 
ridley, olive ridley, and unidentified hardshell sea turtles had been 
submitted by the above-named organization. The requested permit has 
been issued under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 
as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the regulations governing 
the taking, importing, and exporting of endangered and threatened 
species (50 CFR parts 222-226).
    The five-year permit authorizes the SEFSC to conduct research on 
green, loggerhead, hawksbill, leatherback, Kemp's ridley, olive ridley, 
and unidentified hardshell sea turtles captured under another authority 
during SEFSC resource assessment cruises. SEFSC personnel are 
authorized to handle, photograph, measure, weigh, flipper and passive 
integrated transponder tag, and tissue sample live sea turtles, and 
salvage specimens from dead sea turtles. The research will take place 
in the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and their 
embayments and estuaries. This research would aid in the development 
and refinement of management efforts to recover these species.
    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 such endangered or threatened 
species, and (3) is consistent with the purposes and policies set forth 
in section 2 of the ESA.

     Dated: January 6, 2012.
P. Michael Payne,
Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-397 Filed 1-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P