"The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to issue an incidental take permit to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and the regulations governing the incidental taking of endangered and threatened species (50 CFR 222.307). The permit would authorize the incidental capture, with a limited amount of harm and mortality, o fendangered shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum) and Atlantic sturgeon (A. oxyrhychus) from the South Atlantic Distinct Population Segment (DPS), Carolina DPS, Chesapeake Bay DPS, New York Bight DPS, and the threatened Gulf of Maine DPS and would be valid for ten years. The state of Georgia has amended their commercial fishing regulations for the Georgia shad fishery to minimize the incidental capture of sturgeon. The new regulations restrict fishing to the lower portions of the Savannah, Ogeechee, and Altamaha Rivers and close the fishery in the Satilla and St. Mary's Rivers. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources also submitted a completed application and conservation plan with additional measures intended to monitor, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of incidental take in the fishery to the maximum extent practicable"--Abstract (page 1).