[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 146 (Wednesday, July 30, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40803-40804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19958]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 072197B]


Endangered Species; Permits

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

ACTION: Issuance of modification 5 to incidental take permit 844 
(P503I).

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

ADDRESSES: The application and related documents are available for 
review in the following offices, by appointment:
    Office of Protected Resources, F/PR3, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 (301-713-1401); and
    Protected Resources Division, F/NWO3, 525 NE Oregon Street, Suite 
500, Portland, OR 97232-4169 (503-230-5400).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The modification to a permit was 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 May 5, 1997 (62 FR 24421) that an 
application had been filed by IDFG for a modification to incidental 
take permit 844 (P503I). Modification 5 to permit 844 was issued to 
IDFG on July 11, 1997. For modification 5, IDFG is authorized an 
increase in the incidental take of adult, threatened, natural-origin, 
Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) 
associated with a salmon sport fishery on the upper South Fork of the 
Salmon River. The fishery will target non-listed adult, adipose fin-
clipped, artificially-propagated, summer chinook salmon. The primary 
source of take will be the incidental catch and release of ESA-listed 
adult fish with associated catch-and-release incidental mortalities. 
The specifics of the fishery, including season dates, duration, 
locations, and mitigative activities are tailored to provide the 
appropriate level of protection for ESA-listed fish in the watershed. 
The fishery will be terminated when quotas are reached or August 4, 
1997, whichever occurs first. The incidental take of ESA-listed fish 
associated with the South Fork Salmon River fishery is valid in 1997 
only. Permit 844 expires on April 30, 1998.
    Notice was published on May 30, 1997 (62 FR 29330) that NMFS 
proposed to amend IDFG's incidental take permit 844 (P503I) 
consequential to the issuance of modification 8 to IDFG's scientific 
research/enhancement permit 795. NMFS issued modification 8 to permit 
795 on May 21, 1997 (62 FR 29331, May 30, 1997). Modification 8 to 
permit 795 authorizes IDFG to release juvenile, endangered, 
artificially-propagated, Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus 
nerka) from its captive propagation program into Alturas Lake in 1997. 
NMFS proposed to amend permit 844 to authorize IDFG an incidental take 
of juvenile, ESA-listed, sockeye salmon associated with the 
continuation of rainbow trout and kokanee sport fisheries at Alturas 
Lake in 1997 after the ESA-listed juvenile fish are reintroduced into 
the lake. NMFS has determined that the continuation of these fisheries 
at Alturas Lake in 1997 will not result in an incidental take of 
juvenile, ESA-listed, sockeye salmon because of the small size of the 
fish to be released into the lake (7 grams or approximately 90 mm). In 
addition, ESA-listed sockeye salmon smolts should migrate out of 
Alturas Lake prior to reaching a size that makes them susceptible to 
the fisheries.
    Issuance of the modification to a permit, as required by the ESA, 
was based on a finding that such action: (1) Was requested/proposed in 
good faith, (2) will not operate to the disadvantage of the ESA-listed 
species that are the subject of the permit, 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.


[[Page 40804]]


    Dated: July 23, 1997.
Nancy Chu,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-19958 Filed 7-29-97; 8:45 am]
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