Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of Commerce

###### National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

          - RIN: 0648-XJ28

# AGENCY:

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

# ACTION:

Issuance of permit.

# SUMMARY:

                        Notice is hereby given that the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami, Florida 33149, has been issued a permit to take smalltooth sawfish (                        *Pristis pectinata*) for purposes of scientific research.                    

# ADDRESSES:

The permits and related documents are available for review upon written request or by appointment in the following offices:

Permits, Conservation and Education 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

Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; phone (727)824-5312; fax (727)824-5309.

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patrick Opay or Jennifer Skidmore, (301)713-2289.

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                    On April 2, 2008, notice was published in the                     **Federal Register**                     (73 FR 17955) that a request for scientific research permit to take smalltooth sawfish had been submitted by the above-named institution. The requested permit has been issued under the authority of 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 parts 222-226).                

                    The research will be conducted each year over the course of a five-year permit in coastal waters of Florida. Up to 45 smalltooth sawfish will be taken annually using nets and hook and line gear. Researchers will conduct a variety                           ( print page 58567)                        sampling and tagging activities in order to collect biological and ecological information on these species that will help efforts to conserve them. Up to 2 loggerhead (                    *Caretta caretta*) and one green (                    *Chelonia mydas*) or hawksbill (                    *Eretmochelys imbricata*) or leatherback (                    *Dermochelys coriacea*) or Kemp's ridley (                    *Lepidochelys kempii*) sea turtle, and one American crocodile (                    *Crocodylus acutus*) could be lethally taken during the smalltooth sawfish research.                

Issuance of this permit, as required by the ESA, was based on a finding that such permit (1) was applied for in good faith, (2) will not operate to the disadvantage of such endangered or threatened species, and (3) is consistent with the purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA.

Dated: October 1, 2008.

P. Michael Payne,

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. E8-23741 Filed 10-6-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-22-S