[Federal Register: January 9, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 6)]
[Notices]               
[Page 1445-1446]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09ja98-42]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 120297A]

 
Marine Mammals; Permit No. 873 (P772#63)

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

ACTION: Issuance of amendment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that on December 18, 1997, permit No. 
873 issued to the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, P.O. Box 
271, La Jolla, CA 92038-0271, was amended.

ADDRESSES: The amendment 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, Suite 13130, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301/
713-2289); and
    Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean 
Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802, (562/980-4016).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The amendment has been granted under the 
authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (16 
U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), the provisions of Sec. 216.39 of the regulations 
governing the taking and importing of marine mammals (50 CFR part 216), 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.), and the provisions of Sec. 222.25 of the

[[Page 1446]]

regulations governing the taking, importing, and exporting of 
endangered fish and wildlife (50 CFR 222.23).
    Permit no. 873 authorizes the permit holder to biopsy several 
species of cetaceans off the Pacific, Southern, and Indian Oceans, as 
well as U.S. territorial waters of the Pacific and Southern Oceans and 
the Gulf of Mexico; and to import biopsy tissues collected outside of 
U.S. waters. The permit has been amended to extend the expiration date 
from December 31, 1997 to February 28, 1998. This is a time extension 
only and involves no increase in the number of animals authorized to be 
taken under the permit.
    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 the endangered species which is the 
subject of this permit; and (3) is consistent with the purposes and 
policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA.

    Dated: December 19, 1997.
Ann D. Terbush,
Chief, Permits and Documentation Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-492 Filed 1-8-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F