24470 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2012 / Notices 

Central Valley steelhead, juvenile 

Central Valley spring-run Chinook 

salmon, juvenile Sacramento River 

winter-run Chinook salmon, and 

juvenile Southern Distinct Population 

Segment North American green sturgeon 

associated with research activities at 

two different sites in the upper 

Sacramento River. Application 14808 

was previous noticed in the Federal 

Register (75 FR 14134) with a 30 day 

comment period from March 24, 2010, 

to April 23, 2010. No comments were 

received for this application, however 

due to substantial changes to the 

sampling locations and the amount take 

NMFS decided to publish the revised 

notice for public comment. In the 

studies described below, researchers do 

not expect to kill any natural origin 

listed fish but a small number, up to two 

percent, may die as an unintended 

result of the research activities. A subsample of hatchery produced winter-run 

Chinook salmon (up to 40 per day) may 

experience intentional (directed) 

mortality and be retained by CDFG for 

coded wire tag retrieval and reading. 

Monitoring efforts are conducted in 

order to compile information on timing, 

composition (species/race), and relative 

abundance of emigrating juvenile 

Chinook salmon and Central Valley 

steelhead from the upper Sacramento 

River system into the Sacramento-San 

Joaquin Delta. This information 

provides an early warning of salmonid 

movement into the Delta, enabling the 

implementation of adaptive 

management practices to protect 

juveniles as they enter and pass through 

the Delta. 

Sampling will occur through the use 

of paired 8-foot rotary screw traps at two 

different sites along the upper 

Sacramento River. The first site, located 

near the town of Knights Landing (river 

mile (RM) 88.5) will be sampled 

beginning in October and continue 

through June of the following year. 

Traps will be fished continuously and 

checked once every 24 hours unless 

conditions warrant more frequent 

sampling. Captured salmonids will be: 

Anesthetized, handled (including fork 

length and wet weight measurements), 

allowed to recover, and released back 

into the river with the exception of up 

to 40 adipose fin clipped Chinook 

salmon that will be retained for coded 

wire tag processing. Sampling at Tisdale 

Weir (RM 120) will follow the same 

methods as described above, however 

sampling will occur year round from 

January through December. 

Permit 13791 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS) is requesting a 3-year 

scientific research and enhancement 

permit to take juvenile California 

Central Valley steelhead, juvenile 

Central Valley spring-run Chinook 

salmon, juvenile Sacramento River 

winter-run Chinook salmon, and 

juvenile Southern Distinct Population 

Segment North American green sturgeon 

associated with research activities at 

monitoring sites in the Sacramento 

River basin and the Sacramento-San 

Joaquin Delta. Application 13791 was 

previously noticed in the Federal 

Register (73 FR 70622) with a 30-day 

comment period from November 21, 

2008, to December 22, 2008. No 

comments were received for this 

application, however due to substantial 

changes in the sampling procedures and 

the amount take NMFS decided to 

publish the revised notice for public 

comment. In the studies described 

below, researchers do not expect to kill 

any natural origin listed fish but a small 

number, up to three percent, may die as 

an unintended result of the research 

activities. All hatchery origin Chinook 

salmon with clipped adipose fins are 

assumed to be implanted with a coded 

wire tag. In order to retrieve and read 

these tags, all adipose fin clipped 

Chinook salmon captured during 

sampling will be sacrificed and retained 

for processing. 

The Stockton Fish and Wildlife 

Office’s Delta Juvenile Fish Monitoring 

Program (DJFMP) monitors the 

abundance, temporal and spatial 

distribution, and survival of juvenile 

salmonids and other fishes occurring 

within the lower Sacramento and San 

Joaquin Rivers and the San Francisco 

Estuary. The Breach III Project 

documents the occurrence and habitat 

use of ESA-listed fishes within Liberty 

Island, a tidally influenced freshwater 

marsh currently undergoing passive 

restoration, located within the San 

Francisco Estuary. The fish monitoring 

data collected by the DJFMP and the 

Breach III Project are intended to 

provide basic biological and population 

information on fishes of management 

concern, including the ESA listed 

winter- and spring-run Chinook salmon 

and Central Valley steelhead. Further, 

data can be used by natural resource 

managers to evaluate the effectiveness of 

water operations, aquatic habitat 

restoration, and fish management 

practices within the San Francisco 

Estuary and its watershed. As a result, 

take of ESA listed salmonids will likely 

occur while sampling using a variety of 

methodologies (e.g. fyke nets, multimesh gill nets, larval fish trawls, midwater trawls, Kodiak trawls, and beach 

seines). Captured fish will be identified 

to species or race, measured for fork 

length to the nearest millimeter, and 

released back into the sampled location. 

Scale samples will also be taken from a 

sub-sample of natural origin Chinook 

salmon to assist the University of 

California, Davis with their genetic 

research in the Yolo Bypass. 

Dated: April 19, 2012. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9859 Filed 4–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XA929 

Marine Mammals; Photography Permit 

File No. 17032 

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 Shane Moore, 

Moore & Moore Films, Box 2980, 1203 

Melody Creek Lane, Jackson, WY 83001 

to conduct commercial/educational 

photography in Alaska. 

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 

Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, 

Juneau, AK 99802–1668; phone (907) 

586–7221; fax (907) 586–7249. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carrie Hubard or Joselyd Garcia-Reyes, 

(301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 13, 2012, notice was published 

in the Federal Register (77 FR 2037) 

that a request for a permit for 

commercial/educational photography 

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.) and 

the regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216). 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2012 / Notices 24471 

Permit No. 17032 authorizes Mr. 

Moore to film gray (Eschrichtius 

robustus) and killer (Orcinus orca) 

whales in the eastern Aleutian Islands, 

primarily near Ikatan Bay and along the 

Ikatan Peninsula on the south side of 

Unimak Island, Alaska. The purpose of 

the project is to document killer whales 

hunting gray whales migrating through 

False Pass and Unimak Pass and to 

record the behavior of marine animals 

in the presence of a gray whale carcass. 

Filming will occur between April and 

June of each year. A maximum of 35 

killer whales and 10 gray whales could 

be closely approached annually. Footage 

will be obtained from vessel-mounted 

cameras, a polecam that may be 

submerged next to the boat, and, as the 

opportunity arises, from a remotely 

operated video camera in an underwater 

housing placed on the sea floor near a 

gray whale carcass. Footage will be used 

for a television program about predators 

and the challenges they face. The permit 

will expire on April 15, 2017. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a final 

determination has been made that the 

activity proposed is categorically 

excluded from the requirement to 

prepare an environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement. 

Dated: April 18, 2012. 

Tammy C. Adams, 

Acting Chief, Permits and Conservation 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9857 Filed 4–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XB132 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Russian River 

Estuary Management Activities 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of an incidental 

harassment authorization. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

regulations implementing the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as 

amended, notification is hereby given 

that NMFS has issued an Incidental 

Harassment Authorization (IHA) to the 

Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) 

to incidentally harass, by Level B 

harassment only, three species of 

marine mammals during estuary 

management activities conducted at the 

mouth of the Russian River, Sonoma 

County, California. 

DATES: This authorization is effective for 

the period of one year, from April 21, 

2012, through April 20, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: A copy of the IHA and 

related documents are available by 

writing to Tammy Adams, Acting Chief, 

Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD 

20910. 

A copy of the application containing 

a list of the references used in this 

document may be obtained by writing to 

the address specified above, telephoning 

the contact listed below (see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT), or 

visiting the Internet at: http:// 

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

incidental.htm. Supplemental 

documents provided by SCWA may also 

be found at the same address: Report of 

Activities and Monitoring Results (July 

2009 to December 2011); Russian River 

Estuary Outlet Channel Adaptive 

Management Plan; and Feasibility of 

Alternatives to the Goat Rock State 

Beach Jetty for Managing Lagoon Water 

Surface Elevations—A Study Plan. 

NMFS’ Environmental Assessment 

(2010) and associated Finding of No 

Significant Impact, prepared pursuant to 

the National Environmental Policy Act, 

are available at the same site. 

Documents cited in this notice, 

including NMFS’ Biological Opinion 

(2008) on the effects of Russian River 

management activities on salmonids, 

may also be viewed, by appointment, 

during regular business hours, at the 

aforementioned address. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben 

Laws, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the 

MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct 

the Secretary of Commerce to allow, 

upon request, the incidental, but not 

intentional, taking of small numbers of 

marine mammals by U.S. citizens who 

engage in a specified activity (other than 

commercial fishing) within a specified 

geographical region if certain findings 

are made and either regulations are 

issued or, if the taking is limited to 

harassment, a notice of a proposed 

authorization is published in the 

Federal Register to provide public 

notice and initiate a 30-day comment 

period. 

Authorization for incidental takings 

shall be granted if NMFS finds that the 

taking will have a negligible impact on 

the species or stock(s), will not have an 

unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

subsistence uses (where relevant), and if 

the permissible methods of taking and 

other means of effecting the least 

practicable adverse impact (i.e., 

mitigation) and requirements pertaining 

to monitoring and reporting of such 

takings are set forth. NMFS has defined 

‘‘negligible impact’’ in 50 CFR 216.103 

as ‘‘* * * an impact resulting from the 

specified activity that cannot be 

reasonably expected to, and is not 

reasonably likely to, adversely affect the 

species or stock through effects on 

annual rates of recruitment or survival.’’ 

Section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA 

established an expedited process by 

which citizens of the United States can 

apply for an authorization to 

incidentally take small numbers of 

marine mammals by Level B harassment 

as defined below. Section 101(a)(5)(D) 

establishes a 45-day time limit for 

NMFS review of an application 

followed by a 30-day public notice and 

comment period on any proposed 

authorizations for the incidental 

harassment of marine mammals. Within 

45 days of the close of the comment 

period, NMFS must either issue or deny 

the authorization. If authorized, the IHA 

would be effective for one year from 

date of issuance. 

Except with respect to certain 

activities not pertinent here, the MMPA 

defines ‘‘harassment’’ as: ‘‘any act of 

pursuit, torment, or annoyance which (i) 

has the potential to injure a marine 

mammal or marine mammal stock in the 

wild [Level A harassment]; or (ii) has 

the potential to disturb a marine 

mammal or marine mammal stock in the 

wild by causing disruption of behavioral 

patterns, including, but not limited to, 

migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, 

feeding, or sheltering [Level B 

harassment].’’ 

Summary of Request 

NMFS received an application on 

January 27, 2012, from SCWA for 

issuance of an IHA for the taking, by 

Level B harassment only, of marine 

mammals incidental to ongoing 

activities conducted in management of 

the Russian River estuary in Sonoma 

County, California. SCWA was first 

issued an IHA, valid for a period of one 

year, on April 1, 2010 (75 FR 17382), 

and was subsequently issued a second 

IHA for incidental take associated with 

the same activities on April 21, 2011 (76 

FR 23306). Management activities 

include management of a naturallymstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES