Environmental assessment for issuance of permit no. 14400 for takes of wild black abalone during black abalone monitoring and research activities in California Issuance of permit no. 14400 for takes of wild black abalone during black abalone monitoring and research activities in California

"The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to issue a scientific research permit for takes of black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii) in the wild, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The permit would be valid for five years from the date of issuance and would authorize the take of black abalone in the course of research activities to monitor the population status of the endangered black abalone and to identify population trends through population counts and size distribution measurements. Research would consist of non-lethal take in order to count and measure all individuals at established monitoring sites and to tag a subset of individuals with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags at selected sites. Dead or obviously dying black abalone would also be collected for pathological and histological studies. The purpose of the proposed research activities are to monitor black abalone abundance and size distribution, estimate survival and growth rates, track the spread of disease, and further understand habitat preferences and changes associated with competition and reduced population size following disease mortality in wild black abalone populations. The information generated by the research activities would be used to inform the management and recovery ofthe species. Work would be conducted by the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe), a consortium of federal, state, and local government agencies, universities, and private firms that are cooperatively conducting monitoring of intertidal resources at over 80 sites in California"--Abstract.