[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28413-28415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13697]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 227 and 425

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

50 CFR Parts 17 and 425


Endangered and Threatened Species; Reopening of Comment Period on 
Proposed Threatened Status for a Distinct Population Segment of 
Anadromous Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) in Seven Rivers

AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, Commerce; and Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Interior.

ACTION: Reopening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The State of Maine formally submitted the Maine Atlantic 
Salmon Conservation Plan (Plan) to the National Marine Fisheries 
Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (collectively the 
Services) on March 5, 1997, in response to the Services' proposal to 
list Atlantic salmon in seven Maine rivers as threatened (60 FR 50530, 
September 29, 1995). The Services have determined that the Plan is 
significant new information relating to the proposed rule that merits 
review and consideration under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The 
Services also note that information and data collected since the 
publication of the proposed rule is also available for review and has 
become part of the record for the Services' evaluation of the proposed 
listing. This information includes adult returns, redd counts, fry 
stocking, habitat assessments, commercial fishing agreements and 
management measures, and marine habitat assessment. Stocking, return 
and habitat data are provided in the Annual Report of the U.S. Atlantic 
Salmon Assessment Committee which is prepared annually for the U.S. 
Section to North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization. The annual 
field activity report prepared by the Maine Atlantic Salmon Authority 
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also documents management 
activities for the seven river populations. In order to ensure that the 
public has an opportunity to comment on all phases of this proposed 
listing, the Services are making the Plan available for review at 
selected locations throughout New England and the Washington DC area

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(see ADDRESSES) and can provide guidance on the availability of other 
information. Because of the size of the Plan, the Services cannot send 
copies upon request. However, the Services will provide the Executive 
Summary of the Plan upon request. The Plan is also available for review 
on-line and the address is provided below.

DATES: The public comment period is reopened for 30 days. All comments 
should be received on or before June 23, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Please send any written comments to Mary Colligan, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, 
Massachusetts 01930-2298, or Paul Nickerson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, Massachusetts 01035. 
Individuals are also encouraged to send a copy of their comments to the 
State of Maine at the following address: Henry Nichols, Maine Atlantic 
Salmon Task Force, Land Use Regulatory Commission, 22 State House 
Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0022.
    As stated previously, the Plan is available on-line at the 
following address: http://www.state.me.us/governor. Complete copies of 
the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Plan are available for review at 
the following locations:
    1. University of Maine--Machias, Merrill Library, c/o Jean Clemons, 
O'Brien Avenue, Machias, Maine 04654.
    2. Ellsworth Public Library, c/o Patricia Foster, Director, 46 
State Street, Ellsworth, Maine 04605.
    3. Bangor Public Library, c/o Sue Wennrick, 145 Harlow Street, 
Bangor, Maine 04401.
    4. Calais Public Library, c/o Marilyn Diffin, Librarian, 1 Union 
Street, Calais, Maine 04619.
    5. Portland Public Library, Portland Room, c/o Tom Gaffney, 5 
Monument Square, Portland, Maine 04101.
    6. Maine State Library, c/o J. Gary Nichols, Librarian, 64 State 
House Station, Augusta Complex, Augusta, Maine 04333-0064.
    7. Pleasant River Hatchery, c/o Dwayne Shaw, Manager, Columbia 
Falls, Maine 04623.
    8. Maine Atlantic Salmon Authority, 650 State Street, Bangor, Maine 
04401.
    9. Camden Public Library, c/o Elizabeth Moran, Director, 55 Main 
Street, Camden, Maine 04843.
    10. Wiscasset Public Library, c/o Janet Morgan, High Street, 
Wiscasset, Maine 04578.
    11. Lincolnville Central School Library, c/o Suzanne Martell, Route 
235, Lincolnville, Maine 04849.
    12. National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Regional Office, 
Habitat and Protected Resources Division, One Blackburn Drive, 
Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930.
    13. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, 
Hadley, Massachusetts 01035.
    14. Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery, East Orland, Maine 04431.
    15. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1033 South Main Street, Old 
Town, Maine 04468.
    16. National Marine Fisheries Services, Office of Protected 
Resources, 1315 East West Highway, Room 13139, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    17. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Endangered Species, 
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 452, Arlington, Virginia 22203.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Colligan at (508) 281-9116 or 
Paul Nickerson at (413) 253-8615.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On September 29, 1995, the Services published a proposal to list a 
distinct population segment, or species, of Atlantic salmon in the 
Sheepscot, Ducktrap, Narraguagus, Pleasant, Machias, East Machias, and 
Dennys Rivers in Maine as threatened. That proposed designation 
contained a special 4(d) provision that invited the State of Maine to 
develop a conservation plan for the species. The special 4(d) rule, as 
proposed in the September notice (60 FR 50530, September 29, 1995) 
would allow for a state plan, approved by the Services, to define the 
manner in which certain activities could be conducted without violating 
the ESA. Federal furloughs and legislative and funding restrictions 
prevented the Services from immediately holding public hearings on the 
proposed action. On August 27, 1996, the Services reopened the comment 
period and announced three public hearings which were held in Maine on 
September 17, 18 and 19. The Services received additional verbal and 
written comments during that comment period which, together with all 
information submitted by the public, are being reviewed by the Services 
in making their final determination whether to list the distinct 
population segment of Atlantic salmon as threatened.
    Partly in response to the special 4(d) provision in the proposed 
rule, the Governor of Maine issued an Executive Order creating a task 
force to draft the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Plan. Biologists 
from the Services were not members of the task force but did review the 
draft Conservation Plan and provide comments. The task force and its 
four subgroups have worked on the Plan since October 1995. The four 
subgroups addressed the potential threats identified in the Status 
Review for Anadromous Atlantic Salmon and the proposed rule. Each of 
the subgroups (agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and recreational 
fishing) examined its industry or activity to identify potential 
impacts to Atlantic salmon and recommended actions to avoid, minimize 
and mitigate such impacts. In the fall of 1996, the State held public 
hearings on the executive summary of the Plan. Comments received during 
that time were considered by the State in its final drafting of the 
Plan. The Plan is a State action plan to provide for the protection and 
conservation of Atlantic salmon and their habitat within the watersheds 
of the seven Maine rivers identified by the Services in the proposed 
rule.
    Following closure of this comment period, the Services will make a 
final determination as to whether listing is warranted, and, if so, 
whether the Plan meets the criteria for a special 4(d) rule that could 
be promulgated in combination with a final rule designating the 
distinct population segment of Atlantic salmon as threatened under the 
ESA. The Services request comments from the public specifically 
addressing the Plan's effectiveness in meeting the criteria for 
acceptance as a special 4(d) rule identified above and contained in 
Section 10(a)(2)(B), 50 CFR 17.32(b)(2) and 50 CFR 222.22(c)(2).
    In addition, the Services have been requested by the Governor of 
Maine to determine that the Plan sufficiently addresses the existing 
threats to Atlantic salmon such that its addition to the list of 
threatened species is not warranted. The Services make determinations 
whether a species is endangered or threatened based on their analysis 
of the effect of the factors contained in section 4 of the ESA on the 
species and after taking into account those efforts being made to 
protect such species. The State-prepared plan is designed to address 
those factors in order to prevent further decline. If, in their final 
determination, the Services conclude under all of the required 
provisions of section 4 of the ESA that the species is not likely to 
become endangered in the foreseeable future, and therefore is not 
``threatened'' as defined in the ESA, then they will make a finding 
that listing is not warranted. This conclusion, while including an 
evaluation of the State's conservation plan, must also include an 
evaluation of the best scientific and

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commercial data available, i.e. species abundance, new data received 
during the comment period, re-evaluation of existing data, and other 
federal and/or international efforts being taken to protect the 
species.
    To assist in their analysis of the species status, the Services 
request any comments, which have not already been submitted, which 
provide new information or data and/or reflect on the new information 
and data that has become available since the publication of the 
proposed rule, including the state Plan. Written comments may be 
submitted on or before June 23, 1997 to either of the offices in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice. Individuals are also requested to 
send a copy of their comments to the State of Maine.
    Author: The primary authors of this notice are Mary Colligan and 
Paul Nickerson (addresses are above).

    Authority: The authority for this section is the ESA (16 U.S.C. 
1531-1544).

    Dated: May 15, 1997.
Patricia A. Montanio,
Deputy Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

    Dated: May 16, 1997.
Cathy Short,
Deputy Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 97-13697 Filed 5-22-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-M