Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 70 / Wednesday, April 11, 2012 / Notices 21751 

governing the taking, importing, and 

exporting of endangered and threatened 

species (50 CFR 222–226). 

File 16549: The applicant is 

requesting authorization for a scientific 

research permit for takes of shortnose 

sturgeon in the wild and captivity. The 

applicant proposes to determine up and 

downstream migrations, habitat use, 

spawning periodicity, seasonal 

movements of shortnose sturgeon in the 

Connecticut River (from Agawam, MA 

to Montague, MA). The applicant also 

proposes captive animal research in 

laboratory tests of up- and downstream 

fish passage studies, swimming 

performance tests, tagging studies, 

anesthesiology, behavior, physiology 

and contaminant studies, as well as 

producing progeny for further research. 

Additionally, the applicant requests 

authorization to collect fertilized 

embryo from each of the following 

rivers: Merrimack River (MA), Kennebec 

River and Androscoggin River (ME). The 

permit would be valid for five years 

from the date of issuance. 

File 17095: The purpose of the 

research would be the monitoring of 

sturgeon abundance and distribution 

through the Hudson River Biological 

Monitoring Program (HRBMP). The 

action area includes the Hudson River 

from River Mile 0 (Battery Park, 

Manhattan, NY) to River Mile 152 at 

Troy Dam (Albany, NY). The focus of 

the monitoring program would be fish 

identification, mark and recapture, and 

enumeration within defined Hudson 

River regions and depth strata. 

Researchers would non-lethally capture, 

handle, measure, weigh, scan for tags, 

insert passive integrated transponder 

(PIT) and dart tags, photograph, tissue 

sample, and release up to 82 shortnose 

sturgeon and 82 Atlantic sturgeon 

annually. Additionally, researchers 

would be permitted each year to lethally 

collect up to 40 shortnose sturgeon and 

up to 40 Atlantic sturgeon eggs and/or 

larvae (ELS). The permit would be valid 

for five years from the date of issuance. 

Dated: April 5, 2012. 

Tammy C. Adams, 

Acting Chief, Permits and Conservation 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8605 Filed 4–10–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XB152 

Endangered Species; File No. 16645 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Georgia Department of Natural 

Resources (GA DNR) has applied in due 

form for a permit pursuant to the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA). The permit application 

is for the incidental take of ESA-listed 

shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum) and 

Atlantic sturgeon (A. oxyrinchus) 

associated with the otherwise lawful 

commercial shad fishery in Georgia. The 

duration of the proposed permit is 10 

years. NMFS is furnishing this notice in 

order to allow other agencies and the 

public an opportunity to review and 

comment on the application materials. 

All comments received will become part 

of the public record and will be 

available for review. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received at the appropriate address or 

fax number (see ADDRESSES) on or before 

June 11, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: The application is available 

for download and review at http:// 

www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/ 

esa_review.htm under the section 

heading ESA Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permits 

and Applications. 

The application is also available upon 

written request or by appointment in the 

following office: Endangered Species 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13626, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone 

(301) 427–8403; fax (301) 713–4060. 

You may submit comments on this 

document, identified by NOAA–NMFS– 

2012–0090, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal 

www.regulations.gov. To submit 

comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, 

first click the ‘‘submit a comment’’ icon, 

then enter NOAA–NMFS–2012–0090 in 

the keyword search. Locate the 

document you wish to comment on 

from the resulting list and click on the 

‘‘Submit a Comment’’ icon on the right 

of that line. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Endangered Species Division, Office of 

Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 EastWest Highway, Room 13626, Silver 

Spring, MD 20910; Attn: Kristy Beard or 

Angela Somma. 

• Fax (301) 713–4060; Attn: Kristy 

Beard or Angela Somma. 

Instructions: Comments must be 

submitted by one of the above methods 

to ensure that the comments are 

received, documented, and considered 

by NMFS. Comments sent by any other 

method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered. 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 or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kristy Beard or Angela Somma at (301) 

427–8403. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 

of the ESA and Federal regulations 

prohibit the ‘‘taking’’ of a species listed 

as endangered or threatened. The ESA 

defines ‘‘take’’ to mean harass, harm, 

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 

capture, or collect, or to attempt to 

engage in any such conduct. NMFS may 

issue permits, under limited 

circumstances, to take listed species 

incidental to, and not the purpose of, 

otherwise lawful activities. Section 

10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA provides for 

authorizing incidental take of listed 

species. NMFS regulations governing 

permits for threatened and endangered 

species are promulgated at 50 CFR 

222.307. 

Background 

NMFS received a draft permit 

application from GA DNR on September 

12, 2011. Based on a review of the 

application, NMFS requested further 

information. The applicant submitted a 

complete application on March 6, 2012 

for take of ESA-listed shortnose and 

Atlantic sturgeon that may be caught 

incidental to the Georgia shad fishery. 

The State of Georgia has amended their 

commercial fishing regulations for the 

Georgia shad fishery to minimize the 

incidental capture of ESA-listed 

shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon. The 


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21752 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 70 / Wednesday, April 11, 2012 / Notices 

new regulations restrict fishing to the 

lower portions of the Savannah, 

Ogeechee, and Altamaha Rivers and 

close the fishery in the Satilla and St. 

Mary’s River. The Georgia shad fishery 

is open from January 1 to as late as April 

30 each year, but would typically end 

March 31. Georgia regulations require 

that sturgeon captured in shad nets 

must be released unharmed into the 

waters from which they were taken. GA 

DNR would use a combination of a trip 

ticket system (self-reporting by 

fishermen) and direct observations to 

monitor the number of sturgeon 

incidentally captured each month in the 

commercial shad fishery. 

GA DNR requests 3-year running 

averages for takes to account for the 

potential for a high-take year before or 

after low-take years. GA DNR estimates 

that incidental bycatch would not 

exceed 175 shortnose sturgeon per year 

(no more than 525 in a 3-year period) 

and 140 Atlantic sturgeon per year (no 

more than 420 in a 3-year period) in the 

Altamaha River, 75 shortnose sturgeon 

per year (no more than 225 in a 3-year 

period) and 50 Atlantic sturgeon per 

year (no more than 150 in a 3-year 

period) in the Savannah River, and 10 

shortnose sturgeon per year (no more 

than 30 in a 3-year period) and 10 

Atlantic sturgeon per year (no more than 

30 in a 3-year period) in the Ogeechee 

River. A mortality rate of approximately 

2.3 percent is anticipated based on 

recent research. 

Conservation Plan 

GA DNR’s conservation plan 

describes measures designed to 

minimize, monitor, and mitigate the 

incidental take of ESA-listed sturgeon. 

The conservation plan includes 

Georgia’s amended commercial fishing 

regulations for the Georgia shad fishery, 

which are expected to minimize the 

bycatch of sturgeon by closing to shad 

fishing sections of the rivers that 

previously had the highest bycatch 

rates. These closures would also protect 

known and suspected sturgeon 

spawning sites. Georgia regulations 

require that sturgeon captured in shad 

nets be released unharmed into the 

waters from which they were taken. GA 

DNR would use a combination of a trip 

ticket system (self-reporting by 

fishermen) and direct observations to 

monitor the incidental take of sturgeon 

in the commercial shad fishery. Other 

monitoring or mitigation actions will be 

undertaken as required. Monitoring 

would be funded by GA DNR’s Annual 

Operating Budget. 

GA DNR considered and rejected two 

other alternatives: (1) No change to 

commercial shad regulations, and (2) 

establishing new upper boundaries for 

commercial shad fishing on the 

Altamaha and Savannah rivers, while 

completely closing the Ogeechee, 

Satilla, and St. Mary’s rivers to 

commercial shad fishing. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Issuing a permit would constitute a 

Federal action requiring NMFS to 

comply with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) as implemented by 

40 CFR parts 1500–1508 and NOAA 

Administrative Order 216–6, 

Environmental Review Procedures for 

Implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act (1999). NMFS 

intends to prepare an Environmental 

Assessment to consider a range of 

reasonable alternatives and fully 

evaluate the direct, indirect, and 

cumulative impacts likely to result from 

issuing a permit. 

Next Steps 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

section 10(c) of the ESA. NMFS will 

evaluate the application, associated 

documents, and comments received 

during the comment period to 

determine whether the application 

meets the requirements of section 10(a) 

of the ESA. If NMFS determines that the 

requirements are met, a permit will be 

issued for incidental takes of ESA-listed 

sturgeon. The final NEPA and permit 

determinations will not be made until 

after the end of the comment period. 

NMFS will publish a record of its final 

action in the Federal Register. 

Dated: April 5, 2012. 

Lisa Manning, 

Acting Chief, Endangered Species 

Conservation Division, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8707 Filed 4–10–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XB153 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

hold an evening public hearing on 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 to obtain 

public input on measures proposed for 

inclusion in Amendment 5 to the 

Atlantic Herring Fishery Management 

Plan. 

DATES: The hearing will be held on 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 6 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at 

the Hilton Hotel, 20 Coogan Boulevard, 

Mystic, CT 06355–1900; telephone: 

(860) 572–0731; fax: (860) 572–0328. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Tuesday, April 25, 2012 

Following the first day of the April 

24–26, 2012 New England Fishery 

Management Council meeting in Mystic, 

CT, the Council will host a public 

hearing, the last in a series of coastwide 

meetings, to obtain public comments on 

measures under consideration for 

inclusion in Amendment 5 to the 

Atlantic Herring Fishery Management 

Plan. Management measures could 

include adjustments to the fishery 

management program, reporting 

requirements and measures to address 

trip notification, carrier vessels and 

transfers of herring at-sea. A catch 

monitoring program also is being 

considered as well as measures to 

address river herring bycatch and 

criteria for midwater trawl vessel access 

to the year-round groundfish closed 

areas. 

Although other non-emergency issues 

not contained in this agenda may come 

before this Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subjects of formal 

action during this meeting. Council 

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 Act, provided that the public 

has been notified of the Council’s intent 

to take final action to address the 

emergency. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Paul 

J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 

days prior to the meeting date. 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES