[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 77 (Friday, April 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 19888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-9875]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 040495E]
Marine Mammals
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Receipt of application for a scientific research permit (P66J).
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Alaska Department of Fish and
Game has applied in due form for a permit to take Steller and
California sea lions for the purposes of scientific research.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before May 22, 1995.
ADDRESSES: The application and related documents are available for
review upon written request or by appointment in the following offices:
Permits Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-
West Highway, Room 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/713-2289);
Director, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK, 99802-
1668 (907/586-7221).
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, NMFS, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD 20910, within 30 days of the publication of this notice.
Those individuals requesting a hearing should set forth the specific
reasons why a hearing on this particular request would be appropriate.
Concurrent with the publication of this notice in the Federal
Register, the Secretary of Commerce is forwarding copies of this
application to the Marine Mammal Commission and its Committee of
Scientific Advisors.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject permit 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).
The applicant seeks authorization to take a maximum of 125 Steller
sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) by trapping, darting, sampling, and gas
anesthesia (including a maximum of 20 by recapture for follow-up blood
sampling and removal of instruments); a maximum of 400 Steller pups
over 6 months old by hand capture, gas anesthesia, and marking; a
maximum of 10,000 Stellers by harassment during the course of capturing
suitable animals; a maximum of 15 Stellers by unintentional mortality
during the course of capture and chemical immobilization and salvaged
specimens of stranded animals, premature pups, and mortalities
associated with this and other research activities. The applicant also
seeks authorization to take up to 30 rehabilitated California sea lions
(Zalophus californianus) by injection with experimental immobilization
drugs and a maximum of 3 for unintentional mortality. All takes will be
over a 5-year period. The applicant proposes to initiate this work on
June 15, 1995. The objectives of this research are to test and develop
safe protocol for chemical restraint, determine movements, habitat
usage and commercial fishery interactions, compare condition indices
between eastern and western stocks, determine dispersal area and extent
of mixing of eastern and western stock pups, and develop safe winter
capturing methods of sea lions.
Dated: April 17, 1995.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits & Documentation Division, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 95-9875 Filed 4-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
