[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 98 (Monday, May 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25208-25209]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12533]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 051396C]


Endangered Species; Permits

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

ACTION: Receipt of two applications for scientific research/enhancement 
permits (P503S and P211J).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Idaho Department of Fish and 
Game in Boise, ID (IDFG) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 
in La Grande, OR (ODFW) have applied in due form for permits to take a 
threatened species for the purpose of scientific research/enhancement.

DATES: Written comments or requests for a public hearing on either of 
these applications must be received on or before June 19, 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: IDFG and ODFW request permits under the 
authority of section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA)

[[Page 25209]]

(16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) and the NMFS regulations governing ESA-listed 
fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 217-227).
    IDFG (P503S) requests a permit to take threatened Snake River 
spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with 
a captive rearing program for three populations of chinook salmon in 
Idaho. The captive rearing program has been proposed as an effort to 
forestall the extinction of the local populations and to preserve the 
overall stock structure of Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon. 
The long-term objective of the program is to achieve the sustainable 
recovery of the ESA-listed Snake River salmon populations. IDFG propose 
to collect juveniles for the captive rearing program annually from the 
upper Salmon River tributaries of West Fork Yankee Fork, upper East 
Fork, and Lemhi River. IDFG propose to rear and maintain the fish 
collected until mature. IDFG intends to prevent cohort collapse by 
supplementing the respective natural adult spawning populations with 
adults from the captive rearing program.
    The captive rearing program was initiated when NMFS issued 
emergency permit 972 to IDFG on August 7, 1995 (60 FR 42147, August 15, 
1995) to allow the collection, handling, and rearing of juvenile, ESA-
listed, chinook salmon. Earlier this year, IDFG requested modification 
1 to permit 972 for authorization to transfer some of the ESA-listed 
juveniles collected last year to NMFS's Manchester Marine Experimental 
Station in WA (61 FR 14296, April 1, 1996). IDFG also requested that 
the NMFS staff at the laboratory be authorized to rear and maintain the 
ESA-listed juvenile fish as an agent of IDFG under permit 972. Under 
their new permit application, IDFG propose that the ESA-listed fish 
being reared by NMFS be transported back to IDFG when mature to be 
released in their natal streams for spawning. The issuance of 
modification 1 to permit 972 is pending. Should a new permit be issued 
for the captive rearing program, that permit would replace permit 972.
    ODFW (P211J) requests a permit to take threatened Snake River 
spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with 
a captive broodstock program for three populations of chinook salmon in 
Oregon. The captive broodstock program has been proposed as an effort 
to forestall the extinction of the local populations and to preserve 
the overall stock structure of Snake River spring/summer chinook 
salmon. The long-term objective of the program is to achieve the 
sustainable recovery of the ESA-listed Snake River salmon populations. 
ODFW propose to collect juveniles for the captive broodstock program 
annually from the Grande Ronde River Basin tributaries of the Lostine 
River, Catherine Creek, and the upper Grande Ronde River in northeast 
Oregon. ODFW propose to rear and maintain the ESA-listed fish in 
hatcheries until mature, spawn the fish, rear and maintain the 
resulting progeny to smolts, and release the offspring in their 
respective parental streams and/or other chinook producing streams 
within that drainage. ODFW also propose to outplant adults and/or 
progeny as eggs or parr produced in excess of smolt needs directly into 
unseeded historic production areas and to collect adults for broodstock 
beginning in 1997 should returns allow.
    The captive broodstock program was initiated when NMFS issued 
emergency permit 973 to ODFW on August 7, 1995 (60 FR 42147, August 15, 
1995) to allow the collection, handling, and rearing of juvenile, ESA-
listed, chinook salmon. Earlier this year, ODFW requested modification 
1 to permit 973 for authorization to transfer some of the ESA-listed 
juveniles collected last year to NMFS's Manchester Marine Experimental 
Station in WA (61 FR 14296, April 1, 1996). ODFW also requested that 
the NMFS staff at the laboratory be authorized to rear and maintain the 
ESA-listed juvenile fish as an agent of ODFW under permit 973. Under 
their new permit application, ODFW propose that the ESA-listed fish 
being reared by NMFS be transported back to ODFW when mature to be 
spawned at ODFW's Bonneville Hatchery. The issuance of modification 1 
to permit 973 is pending. Should a new permit be issued for the captive 
broodstock program, that permit would replace permit 973.
    Those individuals requesting a hearing (see ADDRESSES) should set 
out the specific reasons why a hearing on either 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: May 14, 1996.
Eric H. Ostrovsky,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-12533 Filed 5-17-96; 8:45 am]
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