Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Notices 4945 

1. Golden tilefish in the bottom 

longline and hook–and–line fisheries. 

2. Black sea bass in the pot fishery. 

Currently, there is no limit to the 

number of pot tags issued to fishermen 

who target black sea bass or the number 

of pots that can be fished. Fishermen 

may be leaving large numbers of pots 

fishing for multiple days due to vessel 

or weather problems, and these pots 

could unnecessarily kill many black sea 

bass. The Council is further concerned 

that in the gag recreational fishery, 

fishermen in some areas could have an 

advantage and catch part of the 

allowable catch sooner than those in 

other areas. 

Additionally, in Amendment 18 the 

Council may consider modifying the 

individual transferable quota (ITQ) 

program currently in place for the South 

Atlantic wreckfish fishery to conform 

with the Magnuson–Stevens Act 

requirements on holding excessive 

shares in a LAP program. Furthermore, 

the Maguson–Stevens Act requires 

periodic reviews of LAP programs, and 

if needed, allows for modifications to 

meet the goals of the program. 

Following publication of this NOI, the 

Council will conduct public scoping 

meetings to determine the range of 

issues to be addressed in the DEIS and 

the associated Amendment 18. A 

Federal Register notice will announce 

the availability of the DEIS associated 

with this amendment, as well as a 45- 

day public comment period, pursuant to 

regulations issued by the Council on 

Environmental Quality for 

implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act and to 

NOAA’s Administrative Order 216–6. 

The Council will consider public 

comments received on the DEIS in 

developing the final environmental 

impact statement (FEIS), and before 

voting to submit the final amendment to 

NMFS for Secretarial review, approval, 

and implementation. NMFS will 

announce in the Federal Register the 

availability of the final amendment and 

FEIS for public review during the 

Secretarial review period, and will 

consider all public comments prior to 

final agency action to approve, 

disapprove, or partially approve the 

final amendment. 

Scoping Meetings, Times, and Locations 

All meetings will begin at 3 p.m. In 

addition to Amendment 18, the Council 

intends to scope additional amendments 

at this series of meetings. Separate NOIs 

will be prepared for each amendment. 

The meetings will be physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for information packets or for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to the 

Council (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT). 

Monday, January 26, 2009 —Hilton 

Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd., 

North Charleston, SC 29418; phone: 

843–308–9330. 

Tuesday, January 27, 2009—Bridge 

Point Hotel, 101 Howell Road, New 

Bern, NC 28582; phone: 252–636–3637. 

Tuesday, February 3, 2009—Key 

Largo Grande, 97000 Overseas Highway, 

Key Largo, FL 33037; phone: 305–852– 

5553. 

Wednesday, February 4, 2009— 

Doubletree Hotel, 2080 N. Atlantic 

Avenue, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931; phone: 

321–783–9222. 

Thursday, February 5, 2009—Mighty 

Eight Air Force Museum, 175 Bourne 

Avenue, Pooler, GA 31322; phone: 912– 

748–8888. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: January 22, 2009. 

Alan D. Risenhoover 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–1730 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XM82 

Marine Mammals; File No. 14142 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

Niladri Basu, Ph.D., Department of 

Environmental Health Sciences, 

University of Michigan, 109 South 

Observatory Road, Ann Arbor, MI 

48109–2029, has applied in due form for 

a permit to import marine mammal 

parts for scientific research. 

DATES: Written, telefaxed, or e-mail 

comments must be received on or before 

February 27, 2009. 

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 (APPS) home page, https:// 

apps.nmfs.noaa.gov/index.cfm, and 

then selecting File No. 14142 from the 

list of available applications. 

These documents are also available 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following office(s): 

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 

Northeast Region, NMFS, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930; 

phone (978)281–9300; fax (978)281– 

9333. 

Written comments or requests for a 

public hearing on this application 

should be mailed to the Chief, Permits, 

Conservation and Education Division, 

F/PR1, Office of Protected Resources, 

NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 

13705, 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. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

facsimile at (301)427–2521, provided 

the facsimile is confirmed by hard copy 

submitted by mail and postmarked no 

later than the closing date of the 

comment period. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

e-mail. The mailbox address for 

providing e-mail comments is 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Include 

in the subject line of the e-mail 

comment the following document 

identifier: File No. 14142. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Skidmore or Amy Sloan, 

(301)713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject permit is requested under the 

authority of the Marine Mammal 

Protection Act of 1972, as amended 

(MMPA; 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the 

regulations governing the taking and 

importing of marine mammals (50 CFR 

part 216). 

The applicant is requesting a permit 

to authorize the importation of samples 

opportunistically obtained from 

colleagues at the National 

Environmental Research Institute (NERI) 

of Denmark (Roskilde, Denmark). The 

applicant is requesting authorization to 

import tissues (brain, liver, muscle, 

kidney, skin) from up to 100 individuals 

(hunter-killed, stranded) from each of 

the following species from Greenland, 

Faroe Islands, and Denmark: ringed 

seals (Phoca hispida), pilot whale 

(Globicephala melas), hooded seal 

(Cystopora cristata), harp seal 

(Pagophilus groenlandicus), narwhal 

(Monodon monoceros), beluga 

(Delphinapterus leucas), harbour 

porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), harbour 

seal (Phoca vitulina), grey seal 

(Haliocherus grypus). No takes of live 

animals would be authorized under this 

permit and there would be no non-target 

species taken incidentally under this 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
4946 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Notices 

permit. A permit is requested for a fiveyear period. 

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 

activity proposed is categorically 

excluded from the requirement to 

prepare an environmental assessment or 

environmental impact statement. 

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. 

Dated: January 16, 2009. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–1729 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XM92 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council’s (Council) 

Interspecies Committee will meet to 

consider actions affecting New England 

fisheries in the exclusive economic zone 

(EEZ). 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 9:30 

a.m. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting address: The meeting will be 

held at the Holiday Inn, 31 Hampshire 

Street, Mansfield, MA 02048; 

Telephone: (508)339–2200; Fax:(508) 

339–1040. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

J. Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978)465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The items 

of discussion in the committee’s agenda 

are as follows: 

(1) The Committee will discuss 

management plan integration - How to 

possibly combine species managed 

under current fishery management plans 

(FMPs) into broader units under fewer 

FMPs. 

(2) They will also discuss a process 

for changing specifications for multiple 

species caught in fisheries managed 

under annual catch limits (ACLs) in 

different FMPs. 

(3) There will also be a discussion of 

options to address the yellowtail 

flounder incidental catch by scallop 

vessels as it affects the scallop access 

areas in New England. 

(4) The Committee will also finalize 

Council comments on priorities for 2009 

observer coverage under the 

Standardized Bycatch Reporting 

Methodology. 

(5) Other business. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained in this agenda may come 

before this group for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Action will 

be restricted to those issues specifically 

identified in this notice and any issues 

arising after publication of this notice 

that require emergency action under 

section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, provided 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 withdisabilities. 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. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: January 23, 2009. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–1780 Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

United States Patent and Trademark 

Office 

[Docket No.: PTO–P–2008–0063] 

Request for Comments and Notice of 

Roundtable on Deferred Examination 

for Patent Applications 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; Request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) frequently 

receives suggestions that the USPTO 

adopt a deferral of examination 

procedure. The USPTO is conducting a 

roundtable to obtain public input from 

diverse sources to determine whether 

the support expressed for deferral of 

examination is isolated or whether there 

is general support in the patent 

community and/or the public sector 

generally for the adoption of some type 

of deferral of examination. The 

roundtable is open to the public. 

Members of the public who wish to 

participate in the roundtable must do so 

by request, as the number of 

participants in the roundtable is limited 

to ensure that all who are speaking will 

have a meaningful chance to do so. 

Members of the public who wish solely 

to observe need not submit a request. 

Any member of the public may submit 

written comments on issues raised at 

the roundtable or on any issue 

pertaining to deferral of examination. 

DATES: The roundtable will be held on 

Thursday, February 12, 2009, beginning 

at 9 a.m. and ending at 12:30 p.m. 

The deadline for receipt of requests to 

participate in the roundtable is 5 p.m. 

on Thursday, February 5, 2009. 

The deadline for receipt of written 

comments is February 26, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: The roundtable will be held 

in at the USPTO, in the Madison 

Auditorium on the concourse level of 

the Madison Building, which is located 

at 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, 

Virginia. 

Requests to participate at the 

roundtable are required and must be 

submitted by electronic mail message 

through the Internet to 

robert.bahr@uspto.gov. Requests to 

participate at the roundtable should 

indicate the following information: (1) 

the name of the person desiring to 

participate and his or her contact 

information (telephone number and 

electronic mail address); and (2) the 

organization(s) he or she represents. 

Written comments should be sent by 

electronic mail message over the 

Internet addressed to 

AC6comments@uspto.gov. Comments 

may also be submitted by mail 

addressed to: Mail Stop Comments— 

Patents, Commissioner for Patents, P.O. 

Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–1450, 

marked to the attention of Robert W. 

Bahr. Although comments may be 

submitted by mail, the USPTO prefers to 

receive comments via the Internet. 

The written comments and list of the 

roundtable participants and their 

associations will be available for public 

inspection at the Office of the 

Commissioner for Patents, located in 

Madison East, Tenth Floor, 600 Dulany 

Street, Alexandria, Virginia, and will be 

available via the USPTO Internet Web 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES