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	<summaries>

	<summary><p type="2">SUMMARY:</p>
<p type="1">Notice is hereby given that Mr. Blake Price, 3411 <applicant>Arendall Street</applicant>, <applicant_location woeId="2453947" type="Town" name="Morehead City, NC, US">Morehead City, NC, 28557</applicant_location>, has applied in due form for a permit to take threatened and endangered sea turtles for purposes of scientific research.</p>
</summary></summaries>
	<supplementary_information>

	<supplInfo><p type="2">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</p>
<p type="1">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).</p>
<p type="1">The applicant has requested a permit to test commercial gillnet gear that may have the potential to eliminate or reduce sea turtle bycatch. The research would involve testing modified large mesh (&gt;5 inches) commercial gillnets targeting southern flounder <species_scientific name="Paralichthys lethostigma">(Paralichthys lethostigma)</species_scientific> in shallow waters of Core Sound, <applicant_institution woeId="2347592" type="State" name="North Carolina, US">North Carolina</applicant_institution>. Test nets would be configured with illuminated, green Lindgen-Pitman Electralume lights that have shown promise for reducing sea turtle bycatch in another location. Two contracted commercial gillnet vessels would conduct a total of sixty fishing trips, setting five matched (control vs. experimental) sets of gillnets each day. Each matched set would consist of 100 yards of control net (gillnet without illuminated lights) and 100 yards of experimental net (gillnet with illuminated lights), for a total of 1,000 yards of net a day. With the exception of the lights, the gillnets would be identical in all other respects (e.g., twine material/size; hanging ration; stretch mesh). To follow fishing protocols, nets would be set at dusk and retrieved in the early morning. Turtles would be identified to species, measured, photographed, and flipper and PIT tagged. Captured sea turtles would be examined for any possible injuries before being released away from fishing area. Any comatose or debilitated turtles would be transported to a rehabilitation center. During the life of the permit, the applicant requests authorization to capture 18 Kemp's ridley ( <species_scientific name="Lepidochelys kempii">Lepidochelys kempii</species_scientific> ), 15 loggerhead ( <species_scientific name="Caretta caretta">Caretta caretta</species_scientific> ), 31 green ( <species_scientific name="Chelonia mydas">Chelonia mydas</species_scientific> ), 2 hawksbill ( <species_scientific name="Eretmochelys imbricata">Eretmochelys imbricata</species_scientific> ), and 2 leatherback ( <species_scientific name="Dermochelys coriacea">Dermochelys coriacea</species_scientific> ) sea turtles. Of the captured turtles, 5 Kemp's ridleys, 5 loggerheads, 15 greens, 2 hawksbills, and 2 leatherbacks may be mortalities. The permit would expire in December 2011.</p>
</supplInfo></supplementary_information>
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