[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 4, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28182-28183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-13844]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 052896F]


Endangered Species; Permits

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

ACTION: Issuance of modification 7 to permit 795 (P503A) and 
modification 2 to permit 844 (P503I).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that NMFS has issued a modification to 
a permit that authorizes takes of an Endangered Species Act-listed 
species for the purpose of scientific research/enhancement and a 
modification to a permit that authorizes takes of Endangered Species 
Act-listed species incidental to sport-fishing activities, subject to 
certain conditions set forth therein, to the Idaho Department of Fish 
and Game at Boise, Idaho (IDFG).

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).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The modifications to permits were issued 
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 ESA-
listed fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR parts 217-222).
    Notice was published on March 12, 1996 (61 FR 9979) that an 
application had been filed by IDFG (P503A) for modification 7 to 
scientific research/enhancement permit 795. Modification 7 to permit 
795 was issued to IDFG on April 30, 1996. Permit 795 authorizes IDFG 
takes of endangered Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) 
associated with a captive broodstock program. The captive broodstock 
program is helping to perpetuate the species and will provide Snake 
River sockeye salmon for future recovery actions. For Modification 7, 
IDFG is authorized to release juvenile sockeye progeny of ESA-listed 
adults into net pens in Redfish Lake, ID from June-October annually and 
to release those fish from the net pens directly into the lake in 
October each year. IDFG is also authorized an increase in the annual 
number of ESA-listed juvenile fish to be captured, handled, tagged with 
passive integrated transponders, and released during the annual 
juvenile outmigration to the ocean. Modification 7 is valid for the 
duration of the permit. Permit 795 expires on July 31, 1997.
    NMFS also amended permit 795 to authorize the transfers and 
releases of ESA-listed sockeye salmon captive-brood progeny from the 
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's (ODFW) Bonneville Hatchery. In 
1995, NMFS issued an amendment to Permit 795 to allow the Coastal Zone 
and Estuarine Studies Division of the Northwest Fisheries Science 
Center, NMFS (CZESD) to transfer ESA-listed juvenile fish, captive-
brood sockeye

[[Page 28183]]

salmon progeny suspected of being exposed to bacterial kidney disease 
(BKD), from the University of Washington's Big Beef Creek Hatchery in 
Seattle to ODFW's rearing facility at Bonneville Hatchery for final 
rearing (FR 60 17316, April 5, 1995). Both CZESD and ODFW are 
authorized to act as agents of IDFG under permit 795. Due to the fact 
that ODFW needed the space at Bonneville Hatchery by May 1 of this 
year, permit 795 was amended to allow ODFW and CZESD to transfer the 
ESA-listed juvenile fish at the hatchery to IDFG for release at Redfish 
Lake Creek if the progeny did not exhibit clinical signs of BKD. Any 
ESA-listed juvenile progeny that were determined to be at risk for BKD 
were authorized to be released in the mainstem Columbia River at 
Bonneville Hatchery. These fish transfers and releases are valid in 
1996 only.
    Notice was published on March 12, 1996 (61 FR 9979) that an 
application had been filed by IDFG (P503I) for modification 2 to 
incidental take permit 844. Modification 2 to permit 844 was issued to 
IDFG on May 24, 1996. Permit 844 authorizes IDFG an incidental take of 
adult and juvenile, threatened, Snake River spring/summer chinook 
salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and adult, threatened, Snake River 
fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) associated with the 
State of Idaho's sport-fishing activities. For modification 2, IDFG is 
authorized an incidental take of unmarked residual, ESA-listed, Snake 
River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) associated with a kokanee 
fishery in Redfish Lake from May 25 to August 7, 1996. The purpose of 
the fishery is to reduce the kokanee population in Redfish Lake since 
kokanee are a direct competitor with captive-brood sockeye salmon for 
habitat and food. IDFG have amended the Conservation Plan for permit 
844 by outlining a monitoring strategy of the potential take of ESA-
listed species resulting from the Redfish Lake kokanee fishery. The 
amended Conservation Plan includes the scheme that anglers will be 
directed to avoid harvesting fish marked with external hatchery 
indications. Modification 2 is valid in 1996 only. Permit 844 expires 
on April 30, 1998.
    Issuance of the permit modifications, as required by the ESA, was 
based on a finding that such actions: (1) Were requested in good faith, 
(2) will not operate to the disadvantage of the ESA-listed species that 
are the subject of the permits, and (3) are consistent with the 
purposes and policies set forth in section 2 of the ESA and the NMFS 
regulations governing ESA-listed species permits.

    Dated: May 28, 1996.
Margaret Lorenz,
Acting Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected 
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-13844 Filed 6-3-96; 8:45 am]
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