[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 26, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33096-33097]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16236]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 061796D]


Marine Mammals; Permit No. 866 (P537)

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

ACTION: Receipt of application for modification.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that Mr. Fred Sharpe, Behavioral 
Ecology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser 
University, Burnaby BC V5A 1S6, has requested a modification to Permit 
No. 866.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 26, 1996.

ADDRESSES: The modification request and related documents are available 
for review upon written request or by appointment in the following 
office(s):
    Permits Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-2289); and
    Director, Alaska Region, National Marine Fisheries Service, P.O. 
Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668.
    Written data or views, or requests for a public hearing on this 
request should be submitted to the Chief, Permits Division, F/PR1, 
Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910. Those individuals requesting a hearing should 
set forth the specific reasons why a hearing on this particular request 
would be appropriate.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeannie Drevenak, 301/713-2289.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject modification to permit no. 866 
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.), 
and the regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting of 
endangered fish and wildlife (50 CFR part 222).
    Permit no. 866 authorizes the permit holder to: Take (i.e., harass) 
over a four-year period up to 1000 humpback whales (Megaptera 
novaeangliae), up to 18 of which may be fitted with suction cup time-
depth recorders annually. The Holder is also authorized to harass 
during observational and photo-identification studies up to 100 killer 
whales (Orcinus orca) annually on an opportunistic basis during the 
proposed humpback whale studies. Research activities are authorized to 
be conducted in the waters of southeastern Alaska between Dixon 
Entrance and Cross Sound.
    The Holder is now requesting that the Permit be amended to 
authorize the conduct of playback studies on up to 280 humpback whales 
annually over a three-year period, in the waters of Chatham Strait and 
Frederick Sound Alaska.
    Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register, NMFS is forwarding copies of this application to the Marine 
Mammal Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors.


[[Page 33097]]


    Dated: June 17, 1996.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-16236 Filed 6-25-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F