6508 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 25 / Monday, February 8, 2016 / Notices 

Dated: February 3, 2016. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2016–02393 Filed 2–5–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council will hold a public 

meeting of the Scientific Uncertainty 

Subcommittee of the Scientific and 

Statistical Committee. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Tuesday, February 23, 2016, beginning 

at 10 a.m. and conclude by 4 p.m. For 

agenda details, see SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will at the 

DoubleTree by Hilton Baltimore-BWI 

Airport; 890 Elkridge Landing Rd, 

Linthicum Heights, MD 21090. 

Council address: Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, 800 N. State 

Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901; 

telephone: (302) 674–2331 or on their 

Web site at www.mafmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher M. Moore, Ph.D., Executive 

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, telephone: (302) 

526–5255. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the meeting is to conduct a 

peer review of recent analyses 

conducted by the Northeast Regional 

Stock Assessment Southern Demersal 

Working Group (SDWG) relative to stock 

delineation in the population dynamics 

models being developed for the 

northern stock (Cape Hatteras, North 

Carolina to Maine) of black sea bass 

(Centropristis striata). The results of this 

review will help guide the SDWG in the 

treatment of issues related to 

specification of spatial stock structure in 

the operating model for this species. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aid should be directed to M. 

Jan Saunders, (302) 526–5251, at least 5 

days prior to the meeting date. 

Dated: February 2, 2016. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2016–02293 Filed 2–5–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XD224 

Marine Mammals; File No. 18537 

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 Alaska Department of Fish and 

Game (ADF&G), Division of Wildlife 

Conservation, Juneau, AK [Responsible 

Party: Robert Small, Ph.D.], has applied 

for an amendment to Scientific Research 

Permit No. 18537. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or email 

comments must be received on or before 

March 9, 2016. 

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 home page, https://

apps.nmfs.noaa.gov, and then selecting 

File No. 18537 from the list of available 

applications. 

These documents are also available 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the 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. 

Written comments on this application 

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: Rosa 

L. Gonza ́lez or Amy Sloan, (301) 427– 

8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject amendment to Permit No. 18537 

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.), the regulations governing the 

taking, importing, and exporting of 

endangered and threatened species (50 

CFR 222–226), and the Fur Seal Act of 

1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1151 et 

seq.). 

Permit No. 18537, issued on August 8, 

2014 (79 FR 19578), authorizes takes of 

Steller sea lions during aerial, vessel, 

and ground surveys in support of the 

long-term Steller sea lions research 

program. It also authorizes incidental 

disturbance of California sea lions 

(Zalophus californianus), and northern 

fur (Callorhinus ursinus), harbor (Phoca 

vitulina), spotted (Phoca largha), ribbon 

(Histriophoca fasciata), ringed (Phoca 

hispida hispida), and bearded 

(Erignathus barbatus) seals during 

research activities, and annual 

unintentional mortality of 5 Steller sea 

lions from the Western Distinct 

Population Segment (wDPS) and 10 

Steller sea lions from the Eastern DPS. 

See tables in permit for numbers of 

takes by species, stock and activity. The 

permit is valid through August 31, 2019. 

The permit holder is requesting the 

permit be amended to increase the 

number of California and Steller (wDPS) 

sea lions taken during aerial surveys 

from 4,725 to 10,000, and from 48,000 

to 75,000, respectively. The request is in 

response to observed trends within 

recent years of increasing northerly 

movement of California sea lions, and as 

a result of this, an increase in observed 

animals in the current research area. In 

addition, the use of more sophisticated 

equipment has provided better 

resolution and quality of images taken, 

and, therefore, higher differentiation 

among pinnipeds observed. The permit 

holder also requests authorization to 

increase the volume on a single blood 

draw from Steller sea lions from up to 

1 ml/kg to up to 4 ml/kg. The increase 

would support research projects related 

to the impacts of contaminants on 

immune and endocrine parameters in 

young Steller sea lions. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), an initial 

determination has been made that the 

activities proposed are consistent with 

the Preferred Alternative in the Final 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement for Steller Sea Lion and 

Northern Fur Seal Research (NMFS 


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