[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8568-8569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4998]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 022796B]


Endangered Species; Permits

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

ACTION: Receipt of applications for a scientific research permit 
(P770#70) and modifications to two scientific research permits (P563A 
and P510).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Coastal Zone and Estuarine 
Studies Division, NMFS, in Seattle, WA (CZESD) has applied in due form 
for a permit and the Northern Wasco County People's Utility District in 
The Dalles, OR (NWCPUD) and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Fort Hall, 
ID (SBT) have applied in due form for modifications to permits to take 
endangered and threatened species for the purpose of scientific 
research.

DATES: Written comments or requests for a public hearing on any of 
these applications must be received on or before April 4, 1996.

ADDRESSES: The applications and related documents are available for 
review in the following offices, by appointment:
    Office of Protected Resources, F/PR8, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401); and
    Environmental and Technical Services Division, 525 NE Oregon 
Street, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97232-4169 (503-230-5400).
    Written comments or requests for a public hearing should be 
submitted to the Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of 
Protected Resources.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CZESD requests a permit and NWCPUD and SBT 
request modifications to permits 

[[Page 8569]]
under the authority of section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) and the NMFS regulations governing listed 
fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 217-227).
    CZESD (P770#70) requests a 3-year permit to directly take juvenile, 
threatened, Snake River spring/summer and fall chinook salmon 
(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and juvenile, endangered, Snake River 
sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and to indirectly take juvenile, 
threatened, Snake River spring/summer and fall chinook salmon and 
juvenile, endangered, Snake River sockeye salmon associated with four 
studies designed to evaluate existing and proposed juvenile fish bypass 
systems at four hydroelectric dams on the Snake and Columbia Rivers. 
Study 1 will evaluate the new juvenile bypass facility at Ice Harbor 
Dam. Listed juvenile fish are proposed to be collected and sacrificed 
for blood chemical analysis as a means to measure stress reaction to 
stimulus experienced by fish at the facility. A greater proportion of 
listed juvenile fish are proposed to be indirectly captured and 
released to acquire the juvenile fish to be sacrificed for the study. 
The take associated with Study 1 is requested annually for three years.
    Studies 2-4 will evaluate the effectiveness of juvenile fish 
guidance devices and other important bypass system components at Little 
Goose Dam, McNary Dam, and John Day Dam respectively. A proportion of 
the listed juvenile fish that are successfully diverted from hydropower 
turbines are proposed to be captured, anesthetized, examined, counted, 
allowed to recover from the anesthetic, and released. A proportion of 
the listed juvenile fish that fail to enter the fish bypass system at 
John Day Dam only (Study 4) are proposed to be captured and sacrificed. 
Some indirect mortalities of the listed juvenile fish proposed to be 
taken for Studies 2-4 are likely to occur. The takes associated with 
Studies 2-4 are requested for 1996 only.
    NWCPUD (P563A) requests modification 1 to permit 948 for an 
increase in their authorized annual take of ESA-listed species 
associated with scientific research and monitoring activities. Permit 
948 authorizes a take of juvenile, endangered, Snake River sockeye 
salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka); juvenile, threatened, naturally-produced 
and artificially-propagated, Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon 
(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha); and juvenile, threatened, Snake River fall 
chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with an annual 
study designed to assess run-of-the-river juvenile anadromous fish 
condition after passage through the screened turbine intake channel at 
The Dalles Dam, located on the Columbia River. A greater number of 
juvenile, listed, artificially-propagated, Snake River spring/summer 
chinook salmon and juvenile, listed, Snake River fall chinook salmon 
are requested to be captured and handled, with a corresponding increase 
in the number of indirect mortalities, as a result of NMFS's 1996 
juvenile outmigration estimates. Modification 1 is requested for the 
duration of the permit. Permit 948 expires on September 30, 1999.
    SBT (P510) requests modification 3 to scientific research permit 
849. Permit 849 authorizes a take of adult and juvenile, threatened, 
Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon associated with stock 
assessment and fish condition surveys in the Salmon River subbasin and 
the pond series of Yankee Fork, Salmon River in Idaho. For modification 
3, SBT requests to expand the area of their electrofishing research to 
include the Salmon River subbasin, an area previously unspecified for 
this research activity. Modification 3 would be valid for the duration 
of the permit. Permit 849 expires on November 30, 1997.
    Those individuals requesting a hearing (see ADDRESSES) should set 
out the specific reasons why a hearing on any of these applications 
would be appropriate. The holding of such hearing is at the discretion 
of the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. All statements and 
opinions contained in these application summaries are those of the 
applicants and do not necessarily reflect the views of NMFS.
    Dated: February 27, 1996.
Russell J. Bellmer,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-4998 Filed 3-4-96; 8:45 am]
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