E9-23605. Endangered Species; File No. 10022

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice; receipt of application for modification.

SUMMARY:

Notice is hereby given that Raymond Carthy, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, P.O. Box 110485, Gainesville, Florida 23611-0450, has requested a modification to scientific research Permit No. 10022.

DATES:

Written, telefaxed, or e-mail comments must be received on or before October 30, 2009.

ADDRESSES:

The modification request 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 [phone]; fax [phone]; and Southeast Region, NMFS, 263 13th Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; phone [phone]; fax [phone].

Written comments or requests for a public hearing on this request should be submitted 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 modification 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 e-mail comments is [e-mail]. Include in the subject line of the e-mail comment the following document identifier: File No. 10022-01.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patrick Opay or Amy Hapeman, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The subject modification to Permit No. 10022, issued on April 29, 2008 (73 FR 23195) is requested under the authority of 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 and threatened species (50 CFR 222-226).

Permit No. 10022 authorizes the permit holder to conduct research off the northwest coast of Florida for 5 years. Researchers may capture up to 40 loggerhead (Caretta caretta), 600 green (Chelonia mydas), and 110 Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles using strike-net or set-net capture techniques. Animals may be weighed, measured, photographed, skin biopsied, flipper and passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagged, and released. The permit holder requests authorization to use satellite telemetry to assess habitat use of sea turtles and study whether relocation distances for sea turtles captured in relocation trawlers are appropriate. The permit holder would attach transmitters to up to 12 green sea turtles captured by their project by research nets in St. Joseph Bay, Apalachicola Bay, and St. Andrews Bay. The permit holder would also attach transmitters to up to 25 green, hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Kemp's ridley, and loggerhead sea turtles (any combination) already legally captured by relocation trawlers in the St. Andrews Bay area. These animals would also be flipper and PIT tagged, measured, photographed, tissue sampled and weighed before release. The activities authorized by the modification would occur over the course of the permit through April 30, 2013.

Dated: September 24, 2009.

P. Michael Payne,

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