05-10667. Endangered Species; File No. 1518

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Receipt of application.

SUMMARY:

Notice is hereby given that Carlos Diez, Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Abmientales de Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 9066600, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00906-6600, has applied in due form for a permit to take hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.

DATES:

Written, telefaxed, or e-mail comments must be received on or before June 27, 2005.

ADDRESSES:

The application and related documents are available for review 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 [phone]; fax [phone]; and

Southeast Region, NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive North, St. Petersburg, FL 33702-2432; phone [phone]; fax [phone].

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 [phone], 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 email comments is [e-mail]. Include in the subject line of the e-mail comment the following document identifier: File No. 1518.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patrick Opay or Amy Sloan, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The subject permit is requested 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 222-226).

The applicant proposes to annually capture up to 250 green and 320 hawksbill sea turtles to provide information on the ecology and population dynamics of these species. The research would take place in the waters surrounding Puerto Rico and its adjacent islands including Mona, Monito, Desecheo, Caja-de-Muertos, Vieques and Culebra. Researchers would identify marine habitat, determine distribution and abundance, determine sex ratios, evaluate the extent of ingestion of marine debris, determine growth rates and sexual maturity, and quantify threats. All turtles would be measured, weighed, tagged, and blood sampled. A subset of animals would be lavaged and have transmitters attached to them. The permit would be issued for 5 years.

Dated: May 20, 2005.

Stephen L. Leathery,

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