Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 42 / Friday, March 2, 2012 / Notices 12815 

recommendations for tilefish; 

development of criteria for prioritization 

of the MAFMC five-year research plan; 

discussion of the peer review of the 

Management Strategy Evaluation Study 

of the ABC Control Rules; development 

of criteria for establishing multi-year 

ABC recommendations; and 

development of technical advice for 

MAFMC’s Ecosystem Based Fishery 

Management Guidance Document. The 

purpose of the Tilefish Monitoring 

Committee is to recommend 

management measures designed to 

achieve recommended catch limits. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during these meetings. Action 

will be restricted to those issues 

specifically listed in this notice and any 

issues arising after publication of this 

notice that require emergency action 

under section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act, provided the public 

has been notified of the Council’s intent 

to take final action to address the 

emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

The meetings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to M. Jan Saunders 

at the Mid-Atlantic Council Office, (302) 

526–5251, at least 5 days prior to the 

meeting date. 

Dated: February 28, 2012. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5119 Filed 3–1–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA626 

Marine Mammals; File No. 16160 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application for 

permit amendment. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

The Whale Museum (Responsible Party: 

Jenny Atkinson), P.O. Box 945, Friday 

Harbor, WA 98250 has requested a 

change in Principal Investigator to their 

pending permit application. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or email 

comments must be received on or before 

April 2, 2012. 

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. 16160 from the list of available 

applications. 

These documents are also available 

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) 

713–2289; fax (301) 427–2521; and 

Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand 

Point Way NE., BIN C15700, Bldg. 1, 

Seattle, WA 98115–0700; phone (206) 

526–6150; fax (206) 526–6426. 

Written comments on these 

applications should be submitted to the 

Chief, Permits and Conservation 

Division, at the address listed above. 

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 email comment. 

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: 

Joselyd Garcia-Reyes and Kristy Beard, 

(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.), 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.), and the regulations governing 

the taking, importing, and exporting of 

endangered and threatened species (50 

CFR 222–226). 

On November 3, 2011, a notice was 

published in the Federal Register (76 

FR 68161) that a request for a permit to 

conduct research on marine mammals 

had been submitted by the above-named 

applicant. The Whale Museum proposes 

to monitor and record vessel activities 

around marine mammal species 

routinely encountered by commercial 

and recreational vessels in the inland 

waters of Washington State. This 

research would contribute to a longterm data set (Orca Master) that has 

provided critical information on 

characterizing annual vessel trends 

around Southern Resident killer whales 

and an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

federal, state and local marine wildlife 

guidelines and regulations through the 

Soundwatch program. Research 

methods would include close vessel 

approach for photo-identification, 

behavioral observation, and monitoring. 

The main focus species are killer whales 

(Orcinus orca) from the Southern 

Resident stock. Additionally, Pacific 

white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus 

obliquidens), Dall’s porpoise 

(Phocoenoides dalli), harbor porpoise 

(Phocoena phocoena), eastern gray 

whale (Eschrichtius robustus), 

humpback whale (Megaptera 

novaeangliae), non-ESA listed killer 

whale, and minke whale (Balaenoptera 

acutorostrata) may be harassed. 

Under the pending permit 

application, The Whale Museum is 

requesting a change in Principal 

Investigator (PI) due to personnel 

changes within their organization. They 

request to have Eric Eisenhardt be 

designated as the new PI. No other 

changes to the permit application are 

requested. 

Dated: February 27, 2012. 

Tammy C. Adams, 

Acting Chief, Permits and Conservation 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5175 Filed 3–1–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA914 

Marine Mammals; File No. 16998 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; denial of permit. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that an 

application for a scientific research 

permit (File No. 16998) submitted by 

Mr. Gregory Walker, University of 

Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, has 

been denied. 

ADDRESSES: The application and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following office(s): 

Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 

1315 East-West Highway, Room 13705, 


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