[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 168 (Monday, August 31, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46218-46219]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23359]



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 082198A]


Endangered Species; Permits

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

ACTION: Receipt of an application for a scientific research/enhancement 
permit (1177).

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Portland District at Portland, OR (Corps) has applied in due form for a 
permit that would authorize takes of a threatened anadromous fish 
species for the purpose of scientific research/enhancement.

DATES: Written comments or requests for a public hearing on the 
application must be received on or before September 30, 1998.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Lichatowich (503-230-5438).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Corps requests a permit 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 217-227).
    The Corps requests a two-year permit (1177) that would authorize an 
annual take of adult, threatened, Southern Oregon/Northern California 
coast coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) associated with an adult fish 
transportation program at Elk Creek Dam on the Rogue River in Oregon. 
The purpose of the transportation program is to move returning ESA-
listed adult fish above Elk Creek Dam, an impassable barrier for adult 
salmonids, so that the fish may use the habitat upstream of the dam for 
natural spawning. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has 
determined that coho salmon transported above the dam in

[[Page 46219]]

previous years have spawned successfully and that the Corps' 
transportation program appears to have maintained and potentially 
increased levels of coho salmon natural production in the Elk Creek 
Basin. ESA-listed adult fish are proposed to be captured at a weir 
below the dam, anesthetized, transported above the dam, allowed to 
recover from the anesthetic, and released. In addition to transporting 
the ESA-listed adult fish, the Corps proposes to tag the fish with 
opercule punches to estimate the number of fish that pass downstream 
over the weir and are then captured a second time. ESA-listed adult 
fish indirect mortalities associated with the transportation program 
are requested. The Corps also requests that ODFW be authorized to act 
as an agent of the Corps under the permit.
    Those individuals requesting a hearing on the permit application 
should set out the specific reasons why a hearing would be appropriate 
(see ADDRESSES). The holding of such a hearing is at the discretion of 
the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA. All statements and 
opinions contained in the above application summary are those of the 
applicant and do not necessarily reflect the views of NMFS.

    Dated: August 24, 1998.
Kevin Collins,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-23359 Filed 8-28-98; 8:45 am]
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